Weitz Investment Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 21,750 Fortive Corporation $FTV

Weitz Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 21,750 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,329,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortive during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Fortive in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fortive by 246.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC raised 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of FTV opened at $60.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.39. Fortive Corporation has a one year low of $46.54 and a one year high of $64.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.06.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. Fortive had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 12.38%.The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortive Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This is a boost from Fortive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.20%.

Fortive announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fortive from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $68.00 target price (up from $67.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 8,662 shares of the company’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 approximately $4,872,877.62. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

About Fortive

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.