Wendell David Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Wendell David Associates Inc. reduced its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 79.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,830 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 14,625 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Fortive by 15.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 395,488 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,216,000 after acquiring an additional 51,690 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortive by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,932 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 197.0% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,264 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after buying an additional 10,125 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Fortive by 2.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,052,000 after buying an additional 10,795 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Fortive during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,346,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.6 %

FTV opened at $80.22 on Thursday. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.95. The company has a market capitalization of $27.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.45.

About Fortive

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.