Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 510,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,986,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.21% of Veralto at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VLTO. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Veralto in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in Veralto during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its position in shares of Veralto by 2,100.0% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on VLTO shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Veralto from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities 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 currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $111.10.

Veralto Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Veralto stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $89.59. 1,691,548 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,507,086. The stock's fifty day moving average is $96.07 and its 200 day moving average is $101.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.92. Veralto Co. has a 1 year low of $83.87 and a 1 year high of $115.00. The firm has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Veralto's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

Insider Transactions at Veralto

In other Veralto news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $46,114.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,795.60. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total transaction of $57,259.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,011 shares in the company, valued at $971,567.55. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,471 shares of company stock worth $2,234,030. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Veralto 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.