Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Decreases Stock Position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lowered its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,191 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 647 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 114.2% in the 1st quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 377 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 229.6% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $12,670,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 428,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,029,554. This represents a 28.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 14,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.88, for a total transaction of $1,058,478.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,290. This trade represents a 21.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.85.

Fortive Stock Down 2.0%

FTV stock opened at $51.13 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.69 and a 200-day moving average of $71.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. Fortive Corporation has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.19% and a net margin of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.