Hikari Tsushin Inc. Lowers Position in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Hikari Tsushin Inc. cut its stake in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,400 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 13,826 shares during the period. Hikari Tsushin Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FTV. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortive by 246.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in Fortive in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Fortive by 149.3% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 845 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Fortive by 8,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Fortive from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.62.

Insider Activity

In other Fortive 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 transaction of $2,891,941.17. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 87,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,337,901.80. The trade was a 35.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $59.82 on Friday. Fortive Corporation has a 12-month low of $46.34 and a 12-month high of $71.85. The company has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.82 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.03.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.06. Fortive had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 12.84%.The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortive Corporation will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.37%.

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

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.