Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,530,000 shares, a decrease of 21.0% from the February 28th total of 4,470,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Veralto has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Insider Transactions at Veralto

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,795.60. The trade was a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 owns 104,496 shares in the company, valued at $10,486,173.60. This trade represents a 9.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,471 shares of company stock valued at $2,234,030. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veralto

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Veralto by 23.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Veralto by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 563,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,352,000 after acquiring an additional 39,342 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Veralto by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 72,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,360,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth about $8,064,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 68.0% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 9,834 shares of the company's stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veralto Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VLTO traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.72. 790,839 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,501,536. The firm has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. Veralto has a 52-week low of $85.91 and a 52-week high of $115.00. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $99.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.77. 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 (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veralto will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 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 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Veralto's payout ratio is currently 13.17%.

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.