Credit Agricole S A Sells 86,220 Shares of Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A has decreased its stake in Fortive Corporation by 67.5%, selling 86,220 shares and now holding 41,495 shares, valued at approximately $3.04 million.
• Other institutional investors, such as Hsbc Holdings PLC and Northern Trust Corp, increased their positions in Fortive, with Hsbc growing its stake by 7.5% and owning 940,653 shares.
• Fortive reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.58 for the most recent quarter, which fell short of analysts' expectations, and the company has initiated a share buyback program to repurchase 15.63 million shares.

Credit Agricole S A decreased its stake in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 67.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,495 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 86,220 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Fortive were worth $3,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:FTV traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $47.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,506,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,355,436. The firm has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.60. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $46.34 and a twelve month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.52 billion for 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%.Fortive'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 earnings per share. Fortive has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.600 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Fortive Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Cowen downgraded shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays set a $54.00 price target on shares of Fortive and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.57.

Fortive Company 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.