ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC cut its Fortive stake by 55.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 73,055 shares and leaving it with 59,327 shares valued at about $3.3 million.
• Fortive beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.70 versus the $0.64 estimate and revenue of $2.14 billion, with revenue up 7.7% year over year.
• The company authorized a major share buyback of up to 20 million shares, while analysts currently hold a consensus rating of “Hold” with a target price of $61.54.

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 55.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,327 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 73,055 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $3,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 246.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 8,300.0% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the technology company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Fortive by 668.5% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,145 shares of the technology company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of FTV opened at $59.22 on Monday. Fortive Corporation has a twelve month low of $46.34 and a twelve month high of $73.77. The company has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.22 and a 200 day moving average of $56.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 12.84%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This trade represents a 35.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FTV. Argus upgraded shares of Fortive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research lowered Fortive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Fortive from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Fortive from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortive currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.54.

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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