Atom Investors LP Sells 26,986 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Atom Investors LP cut its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,758 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 26,986 shares during the quarter. Fortive makes up 1.0% of Atom Investors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Fortive were worth $9,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in Fortive by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 197,895 shares of company stock worth $14,261,051 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $79.33 on Monday. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.23 and a 200-day moving average of $74.22. The company has a market capitalization of $27.52 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during 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 for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research lowered Fortive from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.82.

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.