Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Veralto has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 11 analysts, with six buys and five holds. The average 12-month price target is $110.90 versus the reported share price of $94.34.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Veralto reported adjusted earnings of $1.11 per share and revenue of $1.47 billion, beating consensus estimates of $1.01 and $1.45 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 7.5% year over year, and fiscal 2026 EPS guidance is $4.35–$4.43.
• Institutional ownership remains high, while the CEO sold shares: Institutional investors own 91.28% of Veralto, with several funds increasing their positions. CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 7,097 shares for approximately $720,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Shares of Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $110.90.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Veralto in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Veralto from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $111.00 price target on Veralto in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Veralto from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 7,097 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 124,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,597,109.20. This trade represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veralto

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Veralto by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,199,220 shares of the company's stock worth $119,658,000 after purchasing an additional 39,803 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 61,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,147,000 after purchasing an additional 14,219 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 205.9% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 174,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,384,000 after purchasing an additional 117,272 shares in the last quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension boosted its position 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 buying an additional 55,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 132,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,224,000 after buying an additional 12,625 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veralto Stock Performance

NYSE:VLTO opened at $94.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.78. Veralto has a fifty-two week low of $80.03 and a fifty-two week high of $110.11.

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

Veralto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Veralto's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.13%.

Veralto Company Profile

Veralto Corporation provides water analytics, water treatment, marking and coding, and packaging and color services worldwide. It operates through two segments, Water Quality (WQ) and Product Quality & Innovation (PQI). The WQ segment offers precision instrumentation and water treatment technologies to measure, analyze, and treat water in residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, research, and natural resource applications through the Hach, Trojan Technologies, and ChemTreat brands. This segment provides water solutions, including chemical reagents, services, and digital solutions.

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.