Royal Bank of Canada Reduces Holdings in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in Fortive Corporation by 40.9%, owning approximately 0.15% of the company worth $37.1 million after selling 351,536 shares.
• Fortive's earnings report revealed a missed EPS estimate of $0.58 compared to a consensus of $0.60, with quarterly revenues falling 0.4% year-over-year to $1.52 billion.
• The company has initiated a share repurchase plan to buy back 15.63 million shares, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 40.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 507,496 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 351,536 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.15% of Fortive worth $37,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FTV. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Fortive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Fortive by 114.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 41.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 523 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:FTV traded down $0.30 on Tuesday, reaching $47.68. 3,477,207 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,864,951. The company has a market capitalization of $16.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 3.05 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $46.34 and a 12 month high of $83.32. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $49.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.40.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 11.96%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Fortive has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.600 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.41%.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FTV shares. TD Cowen cut shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 price target (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Melius Research raised shares of Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.79.

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.