Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) Stake Raised by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 1,119.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,987 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,742 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Veralto were worth $305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VLTO. PEAK6 Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Veralto by 246.3% during the third quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,000 after buying an additional 6,211 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,923,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,170 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veralto by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after acquiring an additional 2,676 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Veralto by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 163,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,259,000 after acquiring an additional 15,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Veralto by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 53,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,461,000 after acquiring an additional 3,284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $59,206.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $1,045,044.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,496 shares in the company, valued at $10,486,173.60. The trade was a 9.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,467 shares of company stock worth $1,150,366. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:VLTO opened at $98.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Veralto Co. has a 12-month low of $85.90 and a 12-month high of $115.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. On average, equities analysts expect that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.11 dividend. This is a boost from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Veralto’s payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VLTO. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veralto has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.