Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Stock Price

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) had its target price lowered by Citigroup from $118.00 to $116.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on VLTO. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Veralto from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Veralto from $119.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.27.

Veralto Stock Performance

NYSE:VLTO opened at $101.13 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $104.16 and a 200 day moving average of $105.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Veralto has a 1-year low of $73.91 and a 1-year high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.04. Veralto had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 52.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Veralto will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This is a positive change from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.58%.

Insider Activity at Veralto

In other news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.91, for a total value of $77,388.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,601.83. This represents a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veralto

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Veralto by 2.6% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Veralto by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its position in Veralto by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Veralto by 1.8% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Veralto by 2.4% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Veralto

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.