RFG Advisory LLC Sells 3,796 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

RFG Advisory LLC lessened its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 37.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,263 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,796 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Fortive in the third quarter worth $25,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the third quarter worth about $41,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock opened at $79.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $27.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.10. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FTV shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Citigroup lowered shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.