ASO GROUP Ltd Makes New Investment in Fortive Corporation $FTV

ASO GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 42,002 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,319,000. Fortive makes up about 0.9% of ASO GROUP Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 553 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Fortive by 246.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 149.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortive by 8,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This represents a 35.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Fortive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.62.

Fortive Stock Down 0.4%

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

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last announced 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. Fortive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Fortive’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Fortive Announces Dividend

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

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.