United Services Automobile Association Takes $672,000 Position in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Fortive Corporation, purchasing 9,253 shares valued at approximately $672,000 in the first quarter.
• Fortive's latest earnings report showed $0.58 earnings per share, missing analysts' expectations, with revenue down by 0.4% year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a dividend of $0.06 per share along with a share buyback program for up to 15.63 million shares, signaling potential undervaluation of its stock.

United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,253 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FTV. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company's stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 2,811 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,875 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 195,544 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,666,000 after buying an additional 5,762 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 1,139.4% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 168,967 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,674,000 after buying an additional 155,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 16,603 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,245,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FTV shares. BNP Paribas reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Cowen downgraded shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 price target (down from $60.00) on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $85.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Fortive from $72.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.79.

Fortive Stock Performance

NYSE FTV traded down $0.23 on Monday, hitting $48.61. 637,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,373,425. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business's fifty day moving average is $49.19 and its 200 day moving average is $62.64. Fortive Corporation has a 52 week low of $46.34 and a 52 week high of $83.32. The company has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Fortive Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio is 10.81%.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase 15,630,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Fortive

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.