Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 48,795 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 189,239 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 48,795 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of Fortive worth $14,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FTV. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Fortive by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 2,696 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Fortive by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 13,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Seven 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, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,585.65. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $15,763,884.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at $42,509,043.38. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortive Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $74.66 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $86.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

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

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.