Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,452 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,145 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Fortive were worth $5,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 1.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,092,535 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,415,902,000 after buying an additional 181,948 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 11,107,878 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $817,873,000 after buying an additional 512,414 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,886,914 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,254,000 after buying an additional 85,560 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 8.6% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,294,446 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $244,316,000 after buying an additional 260,404 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 0.6% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,380,342 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,526,000 after buying an additional 14,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.0 %

Fortive stock opened at $76.08 on Monday. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $63.05 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $26.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.15.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,676,445. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Christopher M. Mulhall sold 8,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $739,036.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,689,743.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Tamara S. Newcombe sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,017 shares in the company, valued at $4,676,445. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 63,937 shares of company stock worth $5,475,122. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Fortive from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.46.

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.