JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 92,800 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,541,448 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 92,800 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.03% of Veralto worth $258,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 25,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,570,000 after acquiring an additional 3,392 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Veralto by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 393,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,645,000 after purchasing an additional 47,486 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Veralto by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 191,133 shares of the company's stock worth $19,467,000 after purchasing an additional 72,737 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new stake in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth about $285,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Veralto Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of VLTO stock traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.72. 790,839 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,501,229. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $99.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.77. Veralto Co. has a 1-year low of $85.91 and a 1-year high of $115.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,067,795.60. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.56, for a total transaction of $1,026,403.84. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 21,881 shares of company stock valued at $2,176,770 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VLTO shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veralto presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Veralto Company 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.