Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 40,710 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,519,388 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,710 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.61% of Veralto worth $154,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VLTO. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Veralto during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 2,100.0% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Veralto by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veralto Stock Up 1.1 %

Veralto stock opened at $98.72 on Thursday. Veralto Co. has a fifty-two week low of $85.91 and a fifty-two week high of $115.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.73. The stock has a market cap of $24.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.97.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Veralto’s payout ratio is 13.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VLTO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on 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 assumed coverage on shares of Veralto in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veralto presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $1,045,044.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 104,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,486,173.60. The trade was a 9.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $46,114.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,795.60. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,471 shares of company stock valued at $2,234,030. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Veralto Profile

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.