Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 24.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,077,567 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 660,618 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.60% of Fortive worth $155,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Fortive by 186.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 456 shares of the technology company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its stake in Fortive by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total value of $237,308.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,585.65. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.86, for a total value of $2,530,223.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,126 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,003,296.36. This represents 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 over the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Fortive Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of FTV traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $65.87. The stock had a trading volume of 537,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,736,748. The firm has a market cap of $22.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $60.38 and a twelve month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 13.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.92.

Fortive 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.