Principal Securities Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Principal Securities Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 49.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,158 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,996 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 186.8% in the 4th 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. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.64.

Fortive Stock Down 1.3 %

FTV opened at $81.94 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10. The company has a market cap of $28.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Fortive Company 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.