Fortive Corporation $FTV Shares Acquired by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fortive Corporation by 12.4%, owning approximately $7.13 million worth of shares as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. and Drake & Associates LLC, have made significant changes to their positions in Fortive, indicating strong interest in the company's stock.
• Fortive recently disclosed a dividend cut with a quarterly payment of $0.06 per share and plans for a share repurchase program, indicating management believes its shares are undervalued.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,987 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 10,934 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $7,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Fortive by 114.2% during the 1st quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 377 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC grew its stake in Fortive by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 523 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on FTV shares. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 price target (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cowen downgraded Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $54.00 price target on Fortive and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.79.

Fortive Price Performance

NYSE FTV traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $48.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,800,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,708,383. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.10. Fortive Corporation has a 1-year low of $46.34 and a 1-year high of $83.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company's 50-day moving average is $48.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.23.

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

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Fortive Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.81%.

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.