Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 420,482 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,379 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned 0.17% of Veralto worth $47,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VLTO. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Veralto in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Veralto in the second quarter worth $26,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veralto during the first quarter worth $30,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 11,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 336 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Veralto stock traded down $2.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $102.57. 94,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,529,835. The firm has a market cap of $25.37 billion and a PE ratio of 32.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $108.83 and its 200 day moving average is $104.01. Veralto Co. has a 1 year low of $70.06 and a 1 year high of $115.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.13.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.04. Veralto had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 52.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veralto

In related news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 7,399 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $813,890.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,671 shares in the company, valued at $1,393,810. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 13,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.98, for a total value of $1,477,128.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 138,546 shares in the company, valued at $15,514,381.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 7,399 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $813,890.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,393,810. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,038 shares of company stock worth $3,989,693 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VLTO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Veralto from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Veralto from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Veralto in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $118.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Veralto from $98.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.27.

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.