Hikari Power Ltd Purchases Shares of 53,606 Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Hikari Power Ltd purchased a new stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 53,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,410,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLTO. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Dougherty Wealth Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 2,678.6% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 389 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veralto Stock Performance

Shares of Veralto stock traded up $1.03 on Wednesday, reaching $90.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,097,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,481,295. Veralto Co. has a 52-week low of $65.51 and a 52-week high of $91.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veralto Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mattias Bystrom sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total value of $43,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,310 shares in the company, valued at $2,609,691. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VLTO shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Veralto in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Veralto in a report on Friday, March 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Veralto in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $79.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Veralto from $78.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Veralto from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veralto currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.00.

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.