Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 153,882 Shares of Vontier Corporation (NYSE:VNT)

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vontier Corporation (NYSE:VNT) by 24.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 784,450 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,882 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Vontier were worth $25,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vontier during the 4th quarter valued at $64,869,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vontier by 659.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 860,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,380,000 after purchasing an additional 747,196 shares during the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP bought a new stake in shares of Vontier during the fourth quarter worth $17,478,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Vontier by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,128,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,155,000 after buying an additional 318,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Vontier by 821.7% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 321,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,731,000 after buying an additional 286,774 shares during the last quarter. 95.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vontier Price Performance

Shares of VNT stock opened at $36.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.31. Vontier Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $41.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.42.

Vontier (NYSE:VNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.06. Vontier had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 41.99%. The company had revenue of $741.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $723.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Vontier Corporation will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Vontier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Vontier’s payout ratio is presently 4.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VNT shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Vontier from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Vontier from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Vontier from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vontier news, SVP Kathryn K. Rowen sold 7,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $266,880.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 88,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,932.32. This trade represents a 7.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

About Vontier

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.