Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $446,000 Stock Holdings in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. notably reduced its stake in Fortive Corporation by 68.9% during the first quarter, holding 6,090 shares valued at approximately $446,000 after selling a substantial number of shares.
• Fortive's reported Q2 earnings were $0.58 per share, missing estimates, and revenue decreased by 0.4% year-over-year, underscoring potential concerns about its financial performance.
• Analysts have given Fortive a mixed outlook, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $62.79, indicating the stock is perceived as having limited upside potential in the near term.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 68.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,090 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 13,513 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Fortive were worth $446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FTV. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Fortive by 181.5% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 21,900,363 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,602,669,000 after acquiring an additional 14,120,456 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Fortive by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,112,403 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $959,567,000 after acquiring an additional 4,382,242 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Fortive by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,626,962 shares of the technology company's stock worth $411,781,000 after buying an additional 2,764,432 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $136,794,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 4,854.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,451,325 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $106,208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,030 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Stock Down 1.4%

Fortive stock traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.88. The stock had a trading volume of 4,988,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,725,116. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.98. Fortive Corporation has a 1-year low of $46.34 and a 1-year high of $83.32. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $49.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.10.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Fortive's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Fortive has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.600 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is 14.41%.

Fortive declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to buyback 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on FTV. Melius Research raised Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Fortive in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $55.00 price target (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.