Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 757,389 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 207.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,122,898 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 757,389 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.45% of Veralto worth $125,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Veralto during the third quarter worth $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Veralto during the second quarter worth $26,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Veralto during the second quarter worth $30,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Veralto by 692.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 309 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in Veralto by 11,100.0% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 336 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veralto Stock Performance

NYSE VLTO traded up $2.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.25. 4,755,134 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,531,433. Veralto Co. has a 1 year low of $73.91 and a 1 year high of $115.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $106.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Veralto Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Veralto's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Veralto's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Veralto from $119.00 to $117.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veralto news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.91, for a total transaction of $77,388.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,601.83. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 13,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 138,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,260,841.90. This represents a 8.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,695 shares of company stock worth $1,615,017. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.