Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 276,033 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,418,490 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 276,033 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.70% of Fortive worth $190,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 5.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,513 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth about $456,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth about $12,031,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Fortive by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,303 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,357,000 after buying an additional 4,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Fortive by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 24,437 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,929,000 after buying an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.58, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,702,336.68. This represents a 9.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total value of $12,320,351.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,058,503.21. This represents a 80.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised shares of Fortive from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James raised shares of Fortive from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.73.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FTV traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.86. 1,976,361 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,001,103. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $26.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. The company's 50 day moving average price is $76.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.37.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Fortive's payout ratio 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.