NBW Capital LLC Sells 40,335 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

NBW Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 50.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,425 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 40,335 shares during the quarter. NBW Capital LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,557,116 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,288,355,000 after buying an additional 989,883 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 0.9% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,824,840 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,101,329,000 after buying an additional 282,248 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,092,535 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,415,902,000 after buying an additional 181,948 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 11,107,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $817,873,000 after buying an additional 512,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,298,958 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $496,474,000 after buying an additional 142,527 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,689,743.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Fortive news, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,017 shares in the company, valued at $4,676,445. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,689,743.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 63,937 shares of company stock valued at $5,475,122 in the last ninety days. 0.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on FTV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Fortive from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Fortive in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Fortive from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.54.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $80.27. 547,336 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,594,703. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $62.70 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.95.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The technology company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 14.27%. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

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.