DnB Asset Management AS Raises Stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,170 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,464 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Veralto were worth $8,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 246.3% in the third quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $977,000 after acquiring an additional 6,211 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Veralto by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,923,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,170 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veralto by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 17,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,755,000 after buying an additional 2,676 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Veralto by 10.2% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 163,227 shares of the company's stock worth $18,259,000 after buying an additional 15,048 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Veralto by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 53,622 shares of the company's stock worth $5,461,000 after buying an additional 3,284 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veralto news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $1,045,044.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 104,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,486,173.60. The trade was a 9.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $46,114.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,795.60. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,881 shares of company stock valued at $2,176,770. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on VLTO. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Veralto in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.50.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLTO traded up $1.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.72. 485,998 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,449,001. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.69. Veralto Co. has a 1 year low of $85.91 and a 1 year high of $115.00. The company has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $99.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.77.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Veralto's payout ratio is currently 13.17%.

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.