B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Takes $5.84 Million Position in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG established a new Fortive position worth approximately $5.84 million, purchasing 95,561 shares in the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 94.94% of Fortive’s stock.
• Fortive exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.74 in earnings per share versus the $0.71 consensus estimate and $1.10 billion in revenue, up 8% year over year. The company reaffirmed fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $2.95–$3.05.
• Fortive authorized a 20 million-share buyback and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.07 per share. Despite these shareholder returns, analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $63.10.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 95,561 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,838,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 44,157,822 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,437,953,000 after buying an additional 1,562,028 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the second quarter worth $1,626,463,000. Viking Global Investors LP grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 28.7% in the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 20,483,680 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,003,495,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,056 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,046,352 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,106,760,000 after purchasing an additional 4,532,031 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE acquired a new stake in Fortive in the second quarter worth about $739,668,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock opened at $60.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.39. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $46.54 and a 12-month high of $64.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.06.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Fortive's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, May 4th that permits the company to buyback 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Fortive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Fortive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.20%.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 8,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.59, for a total transaction of $533,492.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 79,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,872,877.62. This trade represents a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FTV shares. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and set a $68.00 price objective (up from $67.00) on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Argus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Fortive in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.10.

Fortive Profile

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.

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