Lansdowne Partners UK LLP Increases Holdings in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• Lansdowne Partners UK LLP increased its position in Fortive Corporation by 117.6%, now holding 27,445 shares valued at approximately $2 million.
• Fortive recently experienced several analyst downgrades, with price targets reduced by firms such as Wells Fargo and Royal Bank of Canada, indicating a shift in market perception.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share while also implementing a stock buyback plan, reflecting management's belief in the stock's undervaluation.

Lansdowne Partners UK LLP increased its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 117.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,445 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,835 shares during the quarter. Fortive comprises 0.3% of Lansdowne Partners UK LLP's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP's holdings in Fortive were worth $2,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Fortive in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Fortive by 114.2% in the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 377 shares of the technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FTV. Barclays set a $54.00 target price on Fortive and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Cowen downgraded Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Fortive from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Melius Research upgraded Fortive to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Fortive from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.57.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE:FTV traded down $0.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $47.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,948,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,549,641. The firm has a market cap of $16.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.97 and a 200-day moving average of $64.93. Fortive Corporation has a 12 month low of $46.34 and a 12 month high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 13.62%.The firm's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Fortive has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.600 EPS. Research analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 14.41%.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 27th that permits the company to buyback 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is 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.