Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) Shares Sold by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. cut its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 55,037 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 824 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $4,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 186.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its stake in Fortive by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total transaction of $15,763,884.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. This trade represents a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortive Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE FTV opened at $74.35 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s payout ratio is 13.56%.

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.