Barclays PLC Acquires 222,076 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 43.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 729,081 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 222,076 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.29% of Veralto worth $81,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Veralto by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 243,600 shares of the company's stock worth $23,256,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Veralto by 126.0% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 67,670 shares of the company's stock worth $6,460,000 after acquiring an additional 37,721 shares during the period. PGGM Investments acquired a new stake in Veralto in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,528,000. Mirova US LLC boosted its holdings in Veralto by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,055,767 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,794,000 after purchasing an additional 22,324 shares during the period. Finally, Northstar Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Veralto by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northstar Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,326 shares of the company's stock worth $8,762,000 after purchasing an additional 14,398 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLTO traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $105.81. 856,998 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,513,813. Veralto Co. has a twelve month low of $73.91 and a twelve month high of $115.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Veralto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Veralto's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 13,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.15, for a total transaction of $1,452,878.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,546 shares in the company, valued at $15,260,841.90. This represents a 8.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 752 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.91, for a total transaction of $77,388.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,071,601.83. This represents a 6.74 % 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 valued at $1,615,017. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLTO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Veralto from $119.00 to $117.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Veralto from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target 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, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Veralto in a report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.50.

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.