Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Stock Rating Raised to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Veralto from “hold” to “buy.” The broader analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with six Buy ratings, four Holds, and an average price target of $112.50 versus the reported share price of $94.89.
• Veralto exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.11 in EPS and $1.47 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 7.5% year over year. The company guided to fiscal 2026 EPS of $4.350–$4.430.
• Institutional investors own 91.28% of Veralto, with several firms increasing their holdings. However, insiders sold 15,180 shares worth approximately $1.49 million over the past 90 days, including sales by the CEO and a senior vice president under pre-arranged trading plans.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

VLTO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Veralto in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Veralto in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Veralto from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Veralto from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.50.

Veralto Stock Performance

VLTO opened at $94.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.62. The business's 50-day moving average price is $96.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.05. Veralto has a 1 year low of $80.03 and a 1 year high of $107.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 7,097 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.52, for a total transaction of $720,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 124,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,597,109.20. The trade was a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 986 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 8,565 shares in the company, valued at $831,233.25. This trade represents a 10.32% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,180 shares of company stock worth $1,490,394. 0.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Veralto by 38.6% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,586 shares of the company's stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA raised its stake in Veralto by 33.8% in the second quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 20,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,834,000 after buying an additional 5,229 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 2.5% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 50,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,458,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 123.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 5,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 35.5% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,221 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veralto Company Profile

Veralto Corporation NYSE: VLTO is a global provider of products, services and technology focused on water analytics and product quality and innovation. The company was formed in 2023 through the separation of certain operating companies from Danaher Corporation and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Veralto's Water Analytics segment provides equipment, software and services used to monitor, analyze and manage water and wastewater. Its brands include Hach, Trojan Technologies, ChemTreat and OTT HydroMet, which serve municipal, industrial and environmental applications such as water quality testing, disinfection, treatment and hydrology.

The company's Product Quality and Innovation segment helps manufacturers and consumer-goods companies manage production quality, packaging, coding, marking and product identification.

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