Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Reaches New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Veralto shares reached a 12-month high, trading at about $119.58 after a prior close of $118.77.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $120.70; seven analysts rate the stock Buy and three Hold.
• Latest quarterly results topped expectations: earnings were $1.18 per share versus $1.09 estimated, while revenue rose 7.5% year over year to $1.51 billion. Insiders sold about 55,094 shares over the past three months.

Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $119.40 and last traded at $119.5760, with a volume of 12,353 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $118.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on VLTO shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Veralto from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Veralto in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Veralto in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Veralto from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $111.00 target price on shares of Veralto in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $120.70.

Veralto Trading Up 0.0%

The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.74. The firm has a market cap of $28.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.51.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.09. Veralto had a return on equity of 35.08% and a net margin of 17.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veralto Corporation will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Veralto's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veralto

In other news, SVP Mattias Byström sold 9,069 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.30, for a total value of $1,054,724.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 35,536 shares in the company, valued at $4,132,836.80. The trade was a 20.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 36,427 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.89, for a total transaction of $3,966,536.03. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,642.85. This trade represents a 80.96% 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. Insiders have sold 55,094 shares of company stock worth $6,032,688 over the last three months. 0.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLTO. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Veralto by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 219,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,443,000 after purchasing an additional 18,277 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise raised its holdings in Veralto by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 130,703 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,594,000 after buying an additional 20,294 shares during the period. Formuepleje A S lifted its position in Veralto by 61.8% in the second 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. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Veralto in the second quarter worth $13,887,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Veralto by 15.7% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 854,460 shares of the company's stock worth $80,593,000 after buying an additional 116,143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

About Veralto

Veralto Corporation is a global provider of water quality and product quality solutions. Its businesses develop technologies and services that help customers monitor and treat water, as well as ensure the quality, safety and consistency of products and packaging. Veralto operates through two segments: Water Quality and Product Quality & Innovation. Its offerings include water analysis, treatment and monitoring systems, and technologies for product coding and marking, packaging design, color management and print production.

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