Blueshift Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Veralto by 35.3% in 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 during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLTO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veralto currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.50.

Veralto Stock Performance

NYSE VLTO opened at $98.14 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $100.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.54. Veralto Co. has a 12-month low of $85.91 and a 12-month high of $115.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts expect that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Veralto’s payout ratio is currently 13.17%.

Insider Activity at Veralto

In related news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $59,206.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,964.50. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,486,173.60. The trade was a 9.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,467 shares of company stock valued at $1,150,366 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.