Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC reduced its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 271,981 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 13,501 shares during the period. Fortive accounts for about 1.4% of Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Fortive were worth $20,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 3.6% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1.7% in the third quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 3.4% in the third quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC increased its position in Fortive by 1.6% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 10,048 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FTV. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Citigroup cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.45.

Fortive Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of FTV stock opened at $79.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.84.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. The trade was a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.