Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $5.85 Million Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 77,957 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,847,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 186.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its position in Fortive by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Fortive Stock Up 2.8 %

FTV opened at $73.83 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The company has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.85.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. This represents a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.