Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 18,725 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,399,765 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 18,725 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $179,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTV. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $412,445,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at $136,794,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 1,005.9% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,899,000 after buying an additional 1,761,983 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 13.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $634,701,000 after acquiring an additional 977,428 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Fortive by 1,014.1% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,984,000 after buying an additional 841,671 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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, Citigroup cut Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.18.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV opened at $73.50 on Wednesday. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $85.79. The company has a market cap of $25.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.99.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $457,997.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,795,793.32. The trade was a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total transaction of $2,530,223.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.01% of the company’s stock.

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.