Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Decreases Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lowered its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,274 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 276 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FTV. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in Fortive by 71.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Fortive by 186.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FTV shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total value of $382,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,702,336.68. This trade represents a 9.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortive Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $81.65 on Friday. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $66.15 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $77.46 and its 200 day moving average is $75.20. The company has a market cap of $28.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.56% and a net margin of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.75%.

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.