Insider Selling: Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CFO Sells $508,141.92 in Stock

Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total value of $508,141.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $75.71 on Thursday. Fortive Co. has a 12 month low of $63.05 and a 12 month high of $87.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.11.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 3.82 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, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.65%.

Institutional Trading of Fortive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Fortive from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Fortive from $84.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Fortive in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $89.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.23.

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.