Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 7,037 Shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd has reduced its holdings in Fortive Corporation by 25.5%, selling 7,037 shares, and now holds 20,611 shares valued at approximately $1.51 million.
• Fortive reported a Q2 EPS of $0.58, falling short of analysts' expectations, with revenues slightly down year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a share buyback program allowing for the repurchase of 15.63 million shares, indicating a belief by the board that the stock is currently undervalued.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd decreased its holdings in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 25.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,611 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 7,037 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Fortive were worth $1,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FTV. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Fortive by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,947,135 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,221,036,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810,997 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Fortive by 164.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,730,161 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $654,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,429,566 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Fortive by 96.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,626,962 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $411,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,764,432 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Fortive by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,297,573 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $322,318,000 after acquiring an additional 720,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Fortive by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,958,622 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $296,897,000 after acquiring an additional 532,180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Fortive Trading Down 1.9%

FTV opened at $47.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Fortive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $46.34 and a fifty-two week high of $83.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company's 50-day moving average is $56.96 and its 200 day moving average is $67.58.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.02). Fortive had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The company's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Fortive from $87.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fortive to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.57.

Fortive Company Profile

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.

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