National Pension Service Increases Position in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Fortive Corporation by 13.4%, holding a total of 517,642 shares valued at approximately $37.88 million.
• Fortive recently missed earnings estimates for the quarter, reporting $0.58 earnings per share against a consensus of $0.60, with revenue down 0.4% year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a share buyback program authorizing the repurchase of 15.63 million shares, indicating confidence that its stock is undervalued.

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 13.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 517,642 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 61,136 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.15% of Fortive worth $37,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Fortive during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Fortive by 114.2% during the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 377 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $85.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen cut shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.57.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV stock traded down $0.0320 on Thursday, reaching $48.0080. 1,809,996 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,342,386. The company has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.67. 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.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 13.62%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Fortive has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.600 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to buyback 15,630,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.