Empire Life Investments Inc. Trims Stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Empire Life Investments Inc. decreased its position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 97.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 616 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,806 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Veralto were worth $63,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VLTO. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Veralto by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,923,747 shares of the company's stock worth $400,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,170 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Veralto by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,599,499 shares of the company's stock worth $1,074,654,000 after purchasing an additional 860,608 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Veralto by 207.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,122,898 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,608,000 after buying an additional 757,389 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Veralto by 10.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,868,620 shares of the company's stock worth $654,232,000 after buying an additional 558,393 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Veralto by 628.4% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 579,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,998,000 after acquiring an additional 499,735 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Veralto Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Veralto stock traded down $0.18 on Wednesday, reaching $97.72. 1,195,585 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,449,834. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $101.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.04. 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 $83.34 and a 1-year high of $115.00. The company has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.06.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Veralto's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Veralto's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VLTO shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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 lowered their price target on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veralto presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veralto news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $46,114.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.