Vontobel Holding Ltd. Increases Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 549,428 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 23,768 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned 0.22% of Veralto worth $55,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Veralto during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Veralto by 692.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Veralto by 140.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veralto Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE VLTO opened at $99.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.06. Veralto Co. has a 52 week low of $82.90 and a 52 week high of $115.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, 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 $102.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.26.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.11 dividend. This is a positive change from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLTO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price 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, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veralto currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $46,114.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,795.60. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.