Machina Capital S.A.S. Sells 11,780 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Machina Capital S.A.S. lessened its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 42.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,067 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 11,780 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $1,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $241,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth about $22,412,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in Fortive by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 13,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Fortive by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 101,745 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,631,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,847,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. This represents a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at $42,509,043.38. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $76.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $26.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.76. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.