Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 543,530 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,522 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $55,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VLTO. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Veralto in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in Veralto by 2,100.0% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Veralto by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Stock Performance

Shares of Veralto stock opened at $88.71 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.97. Veralto Co. has a 52 week low of $86.04 and a 52 week high of $115.00. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.45.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. Sell-side analysts expect that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Veralto’s payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on VLTO. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 9.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $59,206.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,470 shares of the company’s stock, 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 three months, insiders have sold 22,471 shares of company stock valued at $2,234,030. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.