USS Investment Management Ltd Grows Stock Position in Fortive Corporation $FTV

USS Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,500 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 12,580 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Fortive were worth $4,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,794,000. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Fortive by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 353,520 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,518,000 after purchasing an additional 37,828 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at $20,387,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Fortive by 116.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 174,386 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,628,000 after buying an additional 93,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $1,229,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTV opened at $62.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $60.46 and a 200 day moving average of $57.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.71. Fortive Corporation has a one year low of $46.34 and a one year high of $63.40.

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

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd will be issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 22nd. Fortive’s payout ratio is presently 14.37%.

Fortive declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Fortive from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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. Citigroup raised their target price on Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.83.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. The trade was a 35.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

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.