Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 189,239 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 48,795 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $14,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Fortive by 1,005.9% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,899,000 after buying an additional 1,761,983 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after acquiring an additional 977,428 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 1,014.1% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,984,000 after acquiring an additional 841,671 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,785,483 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $137,036,000 after purchasing an additional 326,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Fortive by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,289 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,292,000 after purchasing an additional 303,788 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Stock Down 0.7 %

FTV opened at $74.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $86.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced 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 return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on FTV. 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. StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.18.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.