Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) Short Interest Up 20.4% in February

Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,890,000 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the January 31st total of 4,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other Veralto news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $46,114.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $59,206.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,964.50. This represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,467 shares of company stock valued at $1,150,366. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veralto

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Veralto in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in Veralto by 2,100.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Stock Performance

NYSE VLTO opened at $100.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.37. Veralto has a 1 year low of $85.90 and a 1 year high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. As a group, research analysts expect that Veralto will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Veralto’s payout ratio is 13.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on VLTO shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veralto has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.55.

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.