Charles E. Mclaughlin Sells 32,085 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Stock

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $78.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a 52-week low of $66.15 and a 52-week high of $87.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Fortive by 13.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,619 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Fortive by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,924 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 146,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,485 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,538,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and services professional and engineered products, software, and services in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions. The Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software, and services, including electrical test and measurement, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and connected worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries.