Walter Public Investments Inc. Trims Stock Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Walter Public Investments Inc. lessened its position in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,916 shares during the quarter. Veralto comprises approximately 1.9% of Walter Public Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $10,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VLTO. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its position in Veralto by 2,100.0% in the fourth 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 period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Veralto by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $46,114.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,795.60. The trade was a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $1,045,044.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,486,173.60. This trade represents a 9.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,467 shares of company stock worth $1,150,366. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Veralto Stock Performance

NYSE:VLTO opened at $99.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.80. The company has a market cap of $24.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.06. Veralto Co. has a 52 week low of $85.70 and a 52 week high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. This is an increase from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Veralto’s payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

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.