Principal Securities Inc. Grows Stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 141.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,180 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,786 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Veralto were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Veralto by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 26,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,929,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Veralto by 17.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Veralto by 10.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,858 shares of the company's stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Veralto by 692.3% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 309 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Veralto by 4.1% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veralto Trading Up 0.5 %

Veralto stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $98.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,816,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,480,171. The stock has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.06. Veralto Co. has a one year low of $85.70 and a one year high of $115.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.54 and a 200-day moving average of $105.93.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change 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 is 13.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Veralto presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares in the company, 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 is accessible 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.