Appleton Partners Inc. MA Trims Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its holdings in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,840 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Fortive were worth $416,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Fortive by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,724 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,249 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 13,386 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Fortive by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Price Performance

FTV traded down $0.32 on Tuesday, reaching $72.89. 168,943 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,605,712. Fortive Co. has a twelve month low of $63.05 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $76.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.97.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 12.22%. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Co. will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 12.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on FTV. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $93.00 to $83.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Fortive from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Fortive from $101.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Fortive from $92.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.46.

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.