Swiss National Bank Has $74.22 Million Stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 989,600 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 55,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.29% of Fortive worth $74,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Fortive by 186.8% during 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 last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in Fortive by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 786 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.24. 1,703,408 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,571,502. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $25.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

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Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Fortive's payout ratio is currently 13.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FTV. Barclays reduced their price objective on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

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.