Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank Of Canada Analyst Says

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised Veralto’s price target to $121 from $109 while maintaining a “sector perform” rating, implying 4.76% upside. The analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with a $118.20 target based on seven Buy and three Hold ratings.
• Veralto shares rose 4.0% to $115.50, near their 12-month high of $115.75. The company recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.18 in EPS versus $1.09 expected and $1.51 billion in revenue, up 7.5% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 91.28% of Veralto, with several major funds increasing their positions. Meanwhile, the CEO and a senior vice president sold shares through pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $109.00 to $121.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "sector perform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.76% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Veralto from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Veralto from $113.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Veralto from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Veralto in a research note on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane restated an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Veralto in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $118.20.

Veralto Stock Up 4.0%

NYSE:VLTO traded up $4.40 on Monday, reaching $115.50. 730,017 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,966,369. The company has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.62. Veralto has a 12 month low of $80.03 and a 12 month high of $115.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $98.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.13.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total transaction of $95,691.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $831,233.25. This represents a 10.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,606,300. This represents a 5.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veralto

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VLTO. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Veralto by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,150,388 shares of the company's stock worth $543,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,304 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Veralto by 16.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,797,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $335,785,000 after buying an additional 531,478 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Veralto in the second quarter valued at approximately $235,200,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Veralto by 3.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,095,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $185,266,000 after buying an additional 69,578 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Veralto by 16.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,788,026 shares of the company's stock worth $158,063,000 after buying an additional 252,267 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Veralto Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.