Whittier Trust Co. Reduces Stake in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 80.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 57,263 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 232,321 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $3,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in 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. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortive by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,401 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC grew its position in shares of Fortive by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 953 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortive Stock Performance

Fortive stock traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $62.96. 190,801 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,493,742. The stock has a market cap of $19.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.69 and a beta of 1.06. 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 52-week low of $46.34 and a 52-week high of $64.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.50 and its 200 day moving average is $57.87.

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

Fortive declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is 14.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of Fortive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at $5,337,901.80. The trade was a 35.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on FTV. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fortive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Argus upgraded 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. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.83.

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.