Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 840 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,159 shares of the company’s stock after selling 840 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Veralto were worth $525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Veralto by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 20,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in Veralto by 2.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Veralto by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $821,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 622 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veralto by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veralto Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VLTO opened at $100.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.92. Veralto Co. has a 52-week low of $85.70 and a 52-week high of $115.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.88. The firm has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.95, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.06.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Veralto’s payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $46,114.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,795.60. The trade was a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.55.

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.