First Hawaiian Bank Raises Stock Position in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in Fortive Corporation by 90.8% in the first quarter, acquiring 29,126 shares worth about $2.13 million.
• Fortive's stock faced a downgrade from several analysts, with price targets decreased significantly, leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.79.
• Fortive recently cut its quarterly dividend to $0.06 per share while announcing a share repurchase program, indicating management's belief in the stock's undervaluation.

First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 90.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,126 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,862 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank's holdings in Fortive were worth $2,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Fortive by 97.1% during the 4th 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 period. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in Fortive by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 16,603 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at $1,031,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 14,686 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 292.2% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 69,906 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,243,000 after acquiring an additional 52,082 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Fortive and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. BNP Paribas reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortive has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.79.

Fortive Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Fortive stock traded up $0.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $48.84. 983,381 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,381,689. Fortive Corporation has a 52-week low of $46.34 and a 52-week high of $83.32. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $48.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.23. The firm has a market cap of $16.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.02). Fortive had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 11.96%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Fortive Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 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.