IFP Advisors Inc Reduces Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

IFP Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,089 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 338 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Fortive were worth $83,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 317.0% in the fourth quarter. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC now owns 417 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA purchased a new position in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 94.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FTV. Vertical Research raised shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $65.67 on Tuesday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $52.47 and a one year high of $69.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $65.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The technology company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.02. Fortive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 11.92%. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 26th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 25th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 1,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $88,697.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,519,234.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 1,336 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $88,697.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 37,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,519,234.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.75, for a total transaction of $220,119.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,216,847.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,648 shares of company stock valued at $450,483. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

About Fortive

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Fortive Corp. engages in the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of professional and engineered products, software, and services for a variety of end markets. It operates through the following segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions.