LPL Financial LLC Acquires 17,633 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 395,336 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,633 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Veralto worth $40,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in shares of Veralto by 2,100.0% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Veralto in the third quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Veralto Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VLTO traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 124,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,498,635. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.77. Veralto Co. has a one year low of $85.91 and a one year high of $115.00.

Remove Ads

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. On average, research analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.45%. Veralto's payout ratio is 13.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $46,114.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,795.60. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.56, for a total transaction of $1,026,403.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,495,742.72. The trade was a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,881 shares of company stock valued at $2,176,770. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VLTO shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.50.

Veralto Company 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.