Liberty Capital Management Inc. Sells 4,003 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Liberty Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,619 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,003 shares during the period. Liberty Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 14,635.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $315,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972,855 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Fortive by 1,005.9% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,937,153 shares of the technology company's stock worth $152,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,983 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 13.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,041,324 shares of the technology company's stock worth $634,701,000 after buying an additional 977,428 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in Fortive by 1,014.1% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 924,671 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $72,984,000 after buying an additional 841,671 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 59.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,359,069 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $107,271,000 after buying an additional 505,882 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FTV. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup lowered Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Fortive from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of Fortive stock traded up $1.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $81.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,290,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,384,279. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $77.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $66.15 and a one year high of $87.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Fortive's payout ratio is 12.75%.

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.