Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 836,372 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,522 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $61,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Fortive in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortive during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $739,036.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,689,743.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Fortive news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,689,743.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122 over the last ninety days. 0.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. 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. Vertical Research downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.54.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV opened at $80.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.47 and a 200-day moving average of $75.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.05. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $62.70 and a 1-year high of $87.10.

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.