Rhumbline Advisers Decreases Stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 465,603 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,881 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.19% of Veralto worth $47,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC boosted its position in Veralto by 246.3% in the 3rd quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,000 after buying an additional 6,211 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Veralto by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,923,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,928,000 after buying an additional 1,009,170 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,676 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 10.2% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 163,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,259,000 after purchasing an additional 15,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 53,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,461,000 after purchasing an additional 3,284 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veralto

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $46,114.80. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLTO opened at $98.04 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $102.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.16. Veralto Co. has a 52 week low of $83.34 and a 52 week high of $115.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. Analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is a positive change from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLTO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of 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 reduced their price target on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.