Fortive (NYSE:FTV) SVP Peter Underwood Sells 8,662 Shares of Stock

Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) SVP Peter Underwood sold 8,662 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 79,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,872,877.62. This trade represents a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.70. 1,625,570 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,391,591. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.00. The firm has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.51 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.24. Fortive Corporation has a 52 week low of $46.54 and a 52 week high of $64.56.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. Fortive had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 12.38%.The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback 20,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is 14.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 553 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in Fortive by 2.1% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 9,047 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC raised its position in shares of Fortive by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 953 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on FTV. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $68.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of Fortive in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.10.

Fortive Company 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.