Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies upgraded Veralto to “strong buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “moderate buy,” with an average price target of $112.70.
• Veralto shares rose 1.3% to $98.22, and the company recently exceeded quarterly expectations with EPS of $1.11 versus $1.01 expected and revenue of $1.47 billion, up 7.5% year over year.
• Insiders sold 15,180 shares worth approximately $1.49 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 91.28% of the stock.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

VLTO has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Veralto from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $111.00 target price on Veralto in a report on Thursday, July 30th. 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. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Veralto in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.70.

Veralto Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:VLTO opened at $98.22 on Monday. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.37. The firm has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.62. Veralto has a 12-month low of $80.03 and a 12-month high of $105.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 7,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.52, for a total transaction of $720,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 124,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,597,109.20. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was 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 $831,233.25. The trade was a 10.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,180 shares of company stock valued at $1,490,394. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLTO. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Veralto by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Veralto by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,586 shares of the company's stock worth $850,000 after acquiring an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA boosted its position in Veralto by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 20,684 shares of the company's stock worth $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 5,229 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Veralto by 2.5% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 50,275 shares of the company's stock worth $4,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Veralto by 123.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,662 shares of the company's stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 5,329 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Veralto

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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