Park Avenue Securities LLC Decreases Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Park Avenue Securities LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 41.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,094 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 17,126 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $1,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,191,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $644,346,000 after purchasing an additional 46,704 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after purchasing an additional 977,428 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 14,635.7% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $315,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Fortive by 3.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,444,205 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $271,851,000 after buying an additional 103,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in shares of Fortive by 6.8% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,641,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,721,000 after buying an additional 168,368 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortive Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of FTV stock opened at $79.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $76.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.81. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $87.10.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FTV shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.45.

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.