Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Decreases Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 79,741 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 386 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $5,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Fortive by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 1.7% during the third quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 3.4% in the third quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 10,048 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $79.00 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.89. 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 company has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.14. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.08 dividend. 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 12.75%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price target 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. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.