Graham Capital Management L.P. Invests $4.27 Million in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management opened a new position in Fortive, buying 77,318 shares valued at about $4.27 million in the fourth quarter.
• Fortive continues to attract institutional interest, with several other hedge funds also adding shares; overall, 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• The company topped quarterly earnings expectations with $0.70 EPS versus the $0.64 estimate and announced a 20 million-share buyback along with a quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share.

Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 77,318 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,269,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Fortive by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 553 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 246.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Fortive by 149.3% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 845 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Fortive by 8,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. Argus raised shares of Fortive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $61.00 target price (up from $56.00) on shares of Fortive in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.62.

Fortive Trading Up 1.9%

FTV opened at $61.44 on Wednesday. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $60.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.19. Fortive Corporation has a 1-year low of $46.34 and a 1-year high of $71.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79 and a beta of 1.06.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.06. Fortive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. Analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 22nd. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.37%.

Fortive announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, May 4th that permits the company to buyback 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,337,901.80. This trade represents a 35.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortive 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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