Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Stock Price

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird has raised its price target for Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) from $106.00 to $112.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.22% from the current price.
• Several brokerages including Stifel Nicolaus and Northcoast Research have given buy ratings with target prices ranging from $110.00 to $120.00, while Citigroup has lowered its target to $100.00.
• Veralto reported earnings of $0.93 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and showing an increase in revenue of 6.4% year-over-year.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Robert W. Baird from $106.00 to $112.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $120.00 price target on shares of Veralto and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Veralto from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Veralto in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Veralto currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of VLTO traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $103.93. The stock had a trading volume of 211,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,398,986. The company's 50-day moving average is $101.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.91. Veralto has a 12 month low of $83.86 and a 12 month high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Veralto had a return on equity of 41.45% and a net margin of 16.65%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. Veralto's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Veralto will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Veralto's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Veralto news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 848 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.55, for a total transaction of $85,266.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $847,938.15. This trade represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Lesley Beneteau sold 458 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.84, for a total value of $46,184.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,368,499.64. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,806 shares of company stock valued at $381,351. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veralto

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VLTO. Hikari Power Ltd increased its stake in Veralto by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hikari Power Ltd now owns 54,556 shares of the company's stock worth $5,507,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Veralto by 36.7% during the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 11,305 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 3,037 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Veralto by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,714 shares of the company's stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veralto by 89.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 3,279 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Veralto in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

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.