Drake & Associates LLC Has $1.98 Million Position in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• Drake & Associates LLC cut its Fortive stake by 33.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 17,812 shares and ending with 35,935 shares valued at about $1.98 million.
• Fortive posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.70 versus the $0.64 consensus and revenue of $2.14 billion, up 7.7% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share and a new share repurchase program authorizing buybacks of 20 million shares.

Drake & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 33.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,935 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 17,812 shares during the quarter. Drake & Associates LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $1,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortive by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 2,811 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Fortive by 246.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 87.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Fortive by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 80,595 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Performance

FTV stock opened at $61.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $18.61 billion, a PE ratio of 36.56 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.18 and a 200-day moving average of $57.29. Fortive Corporation has a 12-month low of $46.34 and a 12-month high of $71.85.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.06. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 12.84%.The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. Fortive's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. Fortive's payout ratio is presently 14.37%.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus raised Fortive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortive

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. The trade was a 35.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Fortive Company 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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