Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $115.08 Million Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,129,919 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,021 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $115,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VLTO. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Veralto by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,923,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,928,000 after buying an additional 1,009,170 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,599,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,074,654,000 after purchasing an additional 860,608 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,868,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,232,000 after purchasing an additional 558,393 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 628.4% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 579,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,998,000 after purchasing an additional 499,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,864,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,511,000 after purchasing an additional 418,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Veralto

In other news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,795.60. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VLTO opened at $97.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Veralto Co. has a 12-month low of $83.34 and a 12-month high of $115.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.09.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced 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%. Analysts predict that Veralto Co. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. 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 0.45%. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veralto currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.55.

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.