Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 1,719 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. decreased its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 41.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,427 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,719 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Fortive by 15.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 395,488 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,216,000 after purchasing an additional 51,690 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 4.8% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,932 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Fortive by 599.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,546 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,520,000 after purchasing an additional 45,032 shares during the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 8.8% in the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 98,487 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 111.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 541 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $79.40 on Thursday. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.13.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. The trade was a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research cut Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Fortive from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised Fortive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.82.

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.