27,900 Shares in Fortive Corporation $FTV Purchased by Caxton Associates LLP

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP acquired 27,900 shares of Fortive Corporation, valuing the purchase at approximately $2,042,000, indicating growing interest from institutional investors.
• Several institutional investors, including Dodge & Cox and Pacer Advisors, significantly increased their stakes in Fortive during the first quarter, with Pacer Advisors raising its position by an extraordinary 4,854.2%.
• Fortive's quarterly earnings report showed a decline in revenue and EPS, with a report of $0.58 EPS, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60, while the company's dividend yield is only 0.5% after a recent cut.

Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 27,900 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,042,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Fortive by 181.5% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 21,900,363 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,602,669,000 after purchasing an additional 14,120,456 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Fortive by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,112,403 shares of the technology company's stock worth $959,567,000 after purchasing an additional 4,382,242 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Fortive by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,626,962 shares of the technology company's stock worth $411,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764,432 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $136,794,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Fortive by 4,854.2% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,451,325 shares of the technology company's stock worth $106,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422,030 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BNP Paribas reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.79.

Fortive Stock Up 0.2%

FTV opened at $47.94 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.56 and a 200 day moving average of $63.51. The company has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.10. Fortive Corporation has a 12 month low of $46.34 and a 12 month high of $83.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 13.62%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Fortive has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.600 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Fortive Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.41%.

Fortive declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to repurchase 15,630,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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