Fortive Corporation $FTV Stake Lessened by National Pension Service

Key Points

• National Pension Service sharply reduced its Fortive stake in the fourth quarter, cutting holdings by 94.6% and selling nearly 500,000 shares. After the sale, it owned 28,437 shares valued at about $1.57 million.
• Fortive reported a better-than-expected quarter, posting EPS of $0.70 versus the $0.64 consensus estimate and revenue of $2.14 billion, with revenue up 7.7% year over year. The company also guided FY2026 EPS to $2.90-$3.00.
• The board approved a 20 million-share buyback program, signaling confidence in the stock. Meanwhile, analysts remain cautious overall, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $61.54.

National Pension Service lowered its holdings in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 94.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,437 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 499,919 shares during the period. National Pension Service's holdings in Fortive were worth $1,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 208.8% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,938 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 22,271 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at $1,794,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 116.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 174,386 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,628,000 after purchasing an additional 93,896 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 353,520 shares of the technology company's stock worth $19,518,000 after acquiring an additional 37,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fortive by 7.1% during the third quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,007 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,248,000 after acquiring an additional 16,606 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fortive from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Fortive from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price objective on Fortive in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This trade represents a 35.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Fortive Trading Up 0.8%

Fortive stock opened at $58.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.09. Fortive Corporation has a one year low of $46.34 and a one year high of $73.77. The company's fifty day moving average price is $58.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.49.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, May 4th that allows the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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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