AlphaQuest LLC Sells 10,414 Shares of Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Fortive Corporation, selling 10,414 shares and now owning just 694 shares, which is a 93.8% decrease.
• Fortive reported Q2 earnings per share of $0.58, missing analyst expectations of $0.60, with a revenue of $1.52 billion, reflecting a minor year-over-year decrease.
• The company announced a share buyback program enabling the purchase of 15,630,000 shares, often indicating that the board believes its stock is undervalued.

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 93.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 694 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 10,414 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $51,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,811 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,957 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,041 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 550,369 shares of the technology company's stock worth $41,278,000 after buying an additional 240,976 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Fortive by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 549,429 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,207,000 after purchasing an additional 15,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 target price (down from $60.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. BNP Paribas reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.79.

Fortive Trading Up 0.0%

Fortive stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $47.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,759,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,350,664. The firm has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.64 and a 200 day moving average of $63.74. Fortive Corporation has a 52-week low of $46.34 and a 52-week high of $83.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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 analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 11.96%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Fortive has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.600 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid 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 presently 14.41%.

Fortive announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Fortive

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.