Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lowered its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 129,835 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,717 shares during the period. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Fortive were worth $9,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth $283,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,060 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $268,686,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 14,621 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Fortive by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 138,643 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,208,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026 shares in the last quarter. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Fortive in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Fortive from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Mizuho raised Fortive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.23.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Fortive news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,433,135.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan L. Schwarz sold 14,223 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $1,049,657.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 68,161 shares in the company, valued at $5,030,281.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock opened at $75.71 on Thursday. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $63.05 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.36 and a 200-day moving average of $76.28.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.65%.

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.