Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Stock Holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 399,665 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,023 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $29,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Fortive by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,554 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Fortive by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 2,696 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV opened at $64.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.16. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.87. Fortive Co. has a 1 year low of $63.26 and a 1 year high of $84.96.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays cut their target price on Fortive from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Fortive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.18.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other news, CFO Charles E. Mclaughlin sold 32,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,003,296.36. The trade was a 29.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,585.65. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,385 shares of company stock valued at $19,508,529 in the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortive 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.