Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,517 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,598 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Fortive were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 4.3% in 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 grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.64.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $74.84 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $78.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.86. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $86.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James A. Lico sold 196,117 shares of Fortive 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 528,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,509,043.38. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 6,493 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $519,115.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,941,425.85. The trade was a 21.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529. 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.