Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Stock Gets Price Target Increase from Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup raised Veralto’s price target from $107 to $120 while maintaining a neutral rating, implying about 3.22% upside from the previous close. Analysts overall rate the stock “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus target of $119.50.
• Veralto shares rose 4.6% to $116.26, near their 52-week high, after the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.18 versus the $1.09 consensus and revenue of $1.51 billion, up 7.5% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 91.28% of Veralto, while company insiders own 0.43%; the CEO and a senior vice president recently sold shares through pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by analysts at Citigroup from $107.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price target points to a potential upside of 3.22% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Veralto in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Veralto in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Veralto from $109.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veralto currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $119.50.

Veralto Stock Up 4.6%

Shares of Veralto stock traded up $5.16 on Monday, hitting $116.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,231,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,497. Veralto has a 1 year low of $80.03 and a 1 year high of $116.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $98.23 and a 200-day moving average of $93.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.62.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Veralto had a return on equity of 35.54% and a net margin of 17.27%. Veralto's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Veralto will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 986 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $95,691.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $831,233.25. This trade represents a 10.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 7,098 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $745,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 120,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,606,300. This represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veralto

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension lifted its position in Veralto by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension now owns 291,695 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,792,000 after acquiring an additional 55,348 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Veralto by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 219,254 shares of the company's stock worth $19,443,000 after purchasing an additional 18,277 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise increased its holdings in shares of Veralto by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 130,703 shares of the company's stock worth $11,594,000 after purchasing an additional 20,294 shares in the last quarter. Formuepleje A S raised its position in Veralto by 61.8% in the 2nd quarter. Formuepleje A S now owns 42,528 shares of the company's stock worth $3,771,000 after buying an additional 16,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Veralto during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,887,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Veralto

Veralto Corporation NYSE: VLTO is a global provider of technology, products and services that help customers manage water quality and improve the quality, safety and efficiency of packaged goods. The company serves municipal, industrial, commercial and consumer-facing markets through a portfolio of operating businesses.

Veralto's Water Quality segment provides instruments, software and services used to test, monitor and treat water and wastewater. Its brands include Hach, Trojan Technologies and ChemTreat, which support applications such as laboratory and field testing, disinfection, water treatment and industrial water management.

The company's Product Quality & Innovation segment supplies technologies used in product identification, packaging design, color management and quality inspection.

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