QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 823 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,235 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $2,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Veralto during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Veralto during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Veralto in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Veralto by 35.3% during 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 in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of VLTO stock opened at $99.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $101.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89, 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. Veralto Co. has a 52-week low of $85.70 and a 52-week high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLTO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the 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 directly owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,795.60. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $59,206.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,964.50. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,467 shares of company stock worth $1,150,366 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.