Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Veralto from “buy” to “hold,” though the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $112.60 average price target.
• Veralto reported quarterly earnings of $1.11 per share, exceeding estimates of $1.01, while revenue rose 7.5% year over year to $1.47 billion. The company guided to fiscal 2026 EPS of $4.350–$4.430.
• Veralto shares opened at $104.52, near their 52-week high of $105.75. Insiders sold 15,181 shares worth about $1.56 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 91.28% of the stock.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on VLTO. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Veralto in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Veralto from $100.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Veralto from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $111.00 price target on shares of Veralto in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $113.00 price target on Veralto in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veralto presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.60.

Veralto Stock Performance

VLTO opened at $104.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.62. 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 $97.52 and a 200-day moving average of $92.25. Veralto has a 52-week low of $80.03 and a 52-week high of $105.75.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.10. Veralto had a return on equity of 34.76% and a net margin of 17.35%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Veralto has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.350-4.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.090 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veralto will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veralto

In other news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 986 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $831,233.25. This trade represents a 10.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $745,290.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,060 shares in the company, valued at $12,606,300. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,181 shares of company stock worth $1,561,469. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension lifted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 23.4% during the first 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 during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew 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 during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise increased its position in shares of Veralto by 18.4% during 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 increased its position in shares of Veralto by 61.8% during the 2nd quarter. Formuepleje A S now owns 42,528 shares of the company's stock worth $3,771,000 after purchasing an additional 16,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Veralto during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,887,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

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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