Hikari Tsushin Inc. Reduces Stake in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Hikari Tsushin Inc. decreased its holdings in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,400 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 13,826 shares during the quarter. Hikari Tsushin Inc.’s holdings in Fortive were worth $2,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 42,595,794 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,086,768,000 after purchasing an additional 9,422,189 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fortive during the fourth quarter valued at about $491,928,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Fortive by 102,687.8% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,487,060 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $413,361,000 after buying an additional 7,479,776 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in Fortive by 28.7% in the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 20,483,680 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,003,495,000 after buying an additional 4,571,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 55.2% in the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 8,709,913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $426,699,000 after buying an additional 3,096,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:FTV opened at $59.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82 and a beta of 1.06. Fortive Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $46.34 and a fifty-two week high of $71.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.03.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Monday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 87,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. The trade was a 35.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Fortive in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective 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 boosted their target price on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.62.

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.