Taurus Asset Management LLC Sells 155,400 Shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Taurus Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,525 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 155,400 shares during the period. Taurus Asset Management LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Fortive by 15.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 395,488 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,216,000 after acquiring an additional 51,690 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortive by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,932 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Fortive by 599.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,546 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,520,000 after acquiring an additional 45,032 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Fortive by 6.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 275,489 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $23,719,000 after purchasing an additional 17,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Fortive by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 98,487 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,298,000 after buying an additional 7,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of FTV traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $74.40. 1,024,256 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,971,802. The business's 50-day moving average price is $75.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.16. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Fortive had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 171,808 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.71, for a total transaction of $12,320,351.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,058,503.21. This trade represents a 80.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 6,864 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.03, for a total transaction of $508,141.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 73,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,433,135.73. This represents a 8.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 197,895 shares of company stock valued at $14,261,051. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FTV. UBS Group began coverage on Fortive in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Fortive from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $89.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Fortive from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.82.

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.