Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,884 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,030 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $11,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Veralto by 8.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,097,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,232,000 after purchasing an additional 553,021 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Veralto by 5.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,178,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,948,000 after acquiring an additional 200,657 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Veralto by 4.9% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,814,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,746,000 after acquiring an additional 132,105 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Veralto by 1.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,492,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,510,000 after acquiring an additional 24,246 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Veralto by 207.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,122,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,608,000 after acquiring an additional 757,389 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veralto Stock Performance

VLTO opened at $105.11 on Thursday. Veralto Co. has a 52-week low of $70.47 and a 52-week high of $115.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $108.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $25.99 billion and a P/E ratio of 32.09.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. Veralto had a return on equity of 52.85% and a net margin of 15.69%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VLTO. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $100.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Veralto in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $118.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Veralto from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Veralto from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.27.

Insider Activity

In other Veralto news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.91, for a total value of $77,388.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,071,601.83. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 13,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.15, for a total value of $1,452,878.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,260,841.90. This trade represents a 8.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,639 shares of company stock worth $3,175,803 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Veralto 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.