Machina Capital S.A.S. Sells 11,780 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Machina Capital S.A.S. lessened its stake in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 42.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,067 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 11,780 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.'s holdings in Fortive were worth $1,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 13.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,619 shares of the technology company's stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Fortive by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,485 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 406,085 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 32,004 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,526,000 after buying an additional 4,979 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Fortive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.64.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 76,126 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 5,688 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total transaction of $457,997.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,795,793.32. This represents a 10.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 243,385 shares of company stock worth $19,508,529. Corporate insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

Shares of FTV traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $73.87. 2,408,421 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,126,446. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock's fifty day moving average is $78.93 and its 200 day moving average is $76.86. Fortive Co. has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $25.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Fortive's payout ratio is presently 13.56%.

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.