Associated Banc Corp Reduces Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Associated Banc Corp decreased its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 23.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,982 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,587 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Fortive were worth $899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 186.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment 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, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529 in the last quarter. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV stock opened at $73.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. Fortive Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $78.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

Fortive Company 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.