Candriam S.C.A. Grows Stock Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 261,568 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 17,245 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.11% of Veralto worth $26,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veralto in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Veralto by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 418 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Veralto Price Performance

Veralto stock traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $100.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,444,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,914. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. Veralto Co. has a 1-year low of $85.90 and a 1-year high of $115.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $100.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.34.

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Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. As a group, analysts predict that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Veralto's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veralto

In other news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $1,045,044.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,496 shares in the company, valued at $10,486,173.60. This represents a 9.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $59,206.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,470 shares in the company, valued at $849,964.50. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,467 shares of company stock valued at $1,150,366. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.