Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Buys 42,305 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 299,990 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,305 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.12% of Veralto worth $30,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Veralto in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in Veralto by 2,100.0% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veralto during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,795.60. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the company’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 approximately $10,486,173.60. The trade was a 9.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,467 shares of company stock valued at $1,150,366. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of VLTO opened at $97.07 on Wednesday. Veralto Co. has a 12-month low of $85.90 and a 12-month high of $115.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.06, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. Analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Veralto’s payout ratio is 13.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.