Sone Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 325,352 Fortive Corporation $FTV

Sone Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 325,352 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,876,000. Fortive accounts for 1.5% of Sone Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortive in the second quarter worth $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in shares of Fortive during the first quarter worth $31,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:FTV opened at $60.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.77, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.06. Fortive Corporation has a 12 month low of $46.54 and a 12 month high of $64.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 12.38% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback 20,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Fortive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is an increase from Fortive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Fortive’s payout ratio is currently 14.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 8,662 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.59, for a total value of $533,492.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 79,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,872,877.62. This trade represents a 9.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on FTV shares. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (up from $67.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Fortive in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.