Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 244,216 Shares of Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in Vontier Co. (NYSE:VNT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,931,584 shares of the company’s stock after selling 244,216 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 5.28% of Vontier worth $289,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vontier by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,571,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,776,000 after acquiring an additional 18,091 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Vontier by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,502,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,253,000 after purchasing an additional 145,574 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vontier during the fourth quarter valued at about $64,869,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Vontier by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,506,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,946,000 after purchasing an additional 30,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vontier by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,480,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,988,000 after buying an additional 5,355 shares during the period. 95.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vontier Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Vontier stock opened at $32.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.43. Vontier Co. has a 12-month low of $31.22 and a 12-month high of $45.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.26.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.01. Vontier had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 43.22%. The company had revenue of $776.80 million during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vontier Co. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vontier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.025 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Vontier’s payout ratio is 3.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on VNT. Barclays cut their price target on Vontier from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Vontier from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Vontier in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Vontier from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vontier from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vontier currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Vontier Profile

Vontier Corporation provides mobility ecosystem solutions worldwide. The company operates through Mobility Technologies, Repair Solutions, and Environmental and Fueling Solutions segments. The Mobility Technologies segment provides digitally equipment solutions for mobility ecosystem, such as point-of-sale and payment systems, workflow automation, telematics, data analytics, software platform, and integrated solutions for alternative fuel dispensing.