Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Invests $541,000 in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Veralto by 207.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,122,898 shares of the company's stock worth $125,608,000 after acquiring an additional 757,389 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Veralto by 29.0% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,864,038 shares of the company's stock worth $208,511,000 after purchasing an additional 418,588 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Veralto in the second quarter worth approximately $39,343,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Veralto in the second quarter valued at approximately $24,618,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 455,474 shares of the company's stock worth $50,239,000 after buying an additional 234,323 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veralto Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VLTO traded down $2.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $105.31. 1,075,067 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,525,551. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $107.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.04. Veralto Co. has a 12-month low of $73.91 and a 12-month high of $115.00. The stock has a market cap of $26.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Veralto had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 52.85%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Veralto's payout ratio is 11.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 13,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.15, for a total transaction of $1,452,878.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 138,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,260,841.90. This represents a 8.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 753 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.55, for a total transaction of $84,750.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,256,620.75. This trade represents a 6.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,695 shares of company stock valued at $1,615,017. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VLTO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Veralto from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Veralto in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $118.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Veralto from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veralto presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.27.

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.