Groupe la Francaise Sells 18,733 Shares of Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise reduced its Fortive stake by 15.3% in the second quarter, selling 18,733 shares and retaining 103,826 shares valued at approximately $6.34 million. Institutional investors collectively own 94.94% of Fortive.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with Fortive carrying an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $63.10; ratings include two Buys, eight Holds, and two Sells.
• Fortive exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.74 EPS and $1.10 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 8% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.06 to $0.07 per share.

Groupe la Francaise trimmed its holdings in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,826 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 18,733 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in Fortive were worth $6,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 3,895.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 27,805,114 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,698,614,000 after acquiring an additional 27,109,194 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank grew its position in Fortive by 59.6% during the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 19,933 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,218,000 after acquiring an additional 7,445 shares during the last quarter. Highland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in Fortive by 61.1% in the 2nd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 8,579 shares of the technology company's stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253 shares during the period. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd lifted its position in Fortive by 26.0% in the second quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 7,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Fortive in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Fortive from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (up from $67.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.10.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 8,662 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.59, for a total transaction of $533,492.58. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 79,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,872,877.62. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortive Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE FTV opened at $56.97 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Fortive Corporation has a twelve month low of $47.01 and a twelve month high of $64.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50 day moving average is $60.61 and its 200 day moving average is $59.44.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. Fortive had a net margin of 12.38% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Fortive's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Fortive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Fortive's payout ratio is presently 16.57%.

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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