Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA Makes New $10.52 Million Investment in Fortive Corporation $FTV

Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA acquired a new position in Fortive Corporation (NYSE:FTV) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 190,569 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,521,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FTV. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortive by 208.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,938 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 22,271 shares during the period. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $1,794,000. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 37,828 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Fortive by 116.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 174,386 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,628,000 after buying an additional 93,896 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP boosted its position in Fortive by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 1,174,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,561,000 after buying an additional 43,945 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Fortive Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:FTV opened at $61.44 on Wednesday. Fortive Corporation has a 52 week low of $46.34 and a 52 week high of $71.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.01 and a 200 day moving average of $57.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79 and a beta of 1.06.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. Fortive’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortive has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortive Corporation will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortive announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, May 4th that allows the company to repurchase 20,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortive news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This trade represents a 35.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTV has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Fortive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up from $56.00) on shares of Fortive in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.