Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Has $74.71 Million Holdings in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stock position in Fortive Corporation by 1.7%, acquiring an additional 16,752 shares in the 1st quarter and holding approximately 1,020,895 shares worth $74.7 million.
• Several institutional investors boosted their stakes in Fortive, with Dodge & Cox increasing its holdings by 181.5%, now owning 21.9 million shares worth $1.6 billion.
• Fortive recently cut its dividend to $0.06 per share and initiated a share repurchase program to buy back 15.6 million outstanding shares, indicating the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,020,895 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,752 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.30% of Fortive worth $74,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FTV. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Fortive in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 523 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on FTV shares. 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 objective on Fortive and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 price objective (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.79.

Fortive Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Fortive stock traded down $0.51 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.47. The stock had a trading volume of 1,237,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,346,113. The company has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.51. Fortive Corporation has a 52 week low of $46.34 and a 52 week 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 11.96%. Fortive's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Fortive has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.600 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Cuts Dividend

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

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that allows the company to buyback 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership 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.