Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,347,185 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 146,234 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Veralto worth $2,989,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VLTO. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Veralto during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 2,100.0% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Veralto during the third quarter worth about $46,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Veralto

In other news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,067,795.60. The trade was a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.56, for a total transaction of $1,026,403.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,495,742.72. This represents a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,881 shares of company stock valued at $2,176,770. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Veralto stock opened at $97.74 on Wednesday. Veralto Co. has a twelve month low of $85.91 and a twelve month high of $115.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $99.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.11 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VLTO. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

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.