Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Trims Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lowered its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 48.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,615,157 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,502,259 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.47% of Fortive worth $121,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in Fortive by 197.0% during the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 10,125 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fortive by 2.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,052,000 after acquiring an additional 10,795 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Fortive by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 7,829 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,346,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Fortive by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,289 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,292,000 after purchasing an additional 303,788 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE FTV opened at $74.66 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $86.21. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.93. The company has a market cap of $25.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.18.

Fortive 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.