BlackRock Inc. Sells 611,174 Shares of Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT)

BlackRock Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT – Get Rating) by 4.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,488,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 611,174 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. owned about 0.09% of Vontier worth $225,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Vontier by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,201,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,564,000 after buying an additional 134,107 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vontier by 4.7% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,898,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,361,000 after acquiring an additional 221,705 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vontier by 6.2% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 3,299,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,127,000 after acquiring an additional 193,024 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Vontier in the second quarter valued at $53,839,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vontier by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 2,320,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,769,000 after purchasing an additional 240,486 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded Vontier from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 1st. Bank of America cut shares of Vontier from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, December 12th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Vontier from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Credit Suisse Group began coverage on shares of Vontier in a research report on Monday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Vontier from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vontier has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.17.

Vontier Price Performance

VNT stock opened at $24.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.74. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.27. Vontier Co. has a one year low of $16.55 and a one year high of $28.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.81. Vontier had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 92.95%. The company had revenue of $871.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $791.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Vontier Co. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vontier Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 1st. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Vontier’s dividend payout ratio is 4.07%.

Vontier Profile

(Get Rating)

Vontier Corporation engages in the research and development, manufacture, sale, and distribution of technical equipment, components, software, and services for manufacturing, repairing, and servicing in the mobility infrastructure industry worldwide. The company offers a range of solutions, including environmental sensors, fueling equipment, field payment hardware, point-of sale, workflow and monitoring software, vehicle tracking and fleet management, software solutions for traffic light control, and vehicle mechanics', and technicians' equipment.