Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stock Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,300 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Veralto were worth $5,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Veralto in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its holdings in Veralto by 2,100.0% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Veralto in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Veralto by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLTO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.55.

Veralto Stock Performance

NYSE VLTO opened at $98.21 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $101.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.93. Veralto Co. has a fifty-two week low of $85.70 and a fifty-two week high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio is 13.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veralto

In other Veralto news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,795.60. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.