JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,320,482 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 134,891 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $104,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive during the third quarter worth $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the second quarter worth about $35,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of FTV opened at $75.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.02 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.52.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.82.

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.