Fortive Corporation $FTV Shares Acquired by Groupe la Francaise

Groupe la Francaise increased its position in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,559 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 10,363 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Fortive were worth $6,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 553 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Fortive by 2.1% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 9,047 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Fortive by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Fortive by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 953 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This trade represents a 35.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $59.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $17.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.72. Fortive Corporation has a twelve month low of $46.34 and a twelve month high of $64.56.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. Fortive had a net margin of 12.38% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered Fortive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus raised Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.10.

About Fortive

Fortive Corporation (NYSE: FTV) is a diversified industrial technology company headquartered in Everett, Washington. The company was created through a spin?off from Danaher Corporation in 2016 and has since focused on building a portfolio of professional instrumentation and industrial technology businesses. In 2020 Fortive completed a further portfolio separation with the spin?off of Vontier, concentrating Fortive’s activities on higher?margin instrumentation, software and services.

Fortive’s operations center on professional test and measurement, sensing and monitoring, software?enabled solutions, and lifecycle services that support industrial and commercial customers.