Metis Global Partners LLC Invests $1.49 Million in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Metis Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 18,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VLTO. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dougherty Wealth Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 8,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total transaction of $752,315.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,942,399.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 8,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total value of $752,315.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,399.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mattias Bystrom sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,609,691. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VLTO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Veralto in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $79.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on Veralto in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Veralto from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Veralto from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Veralto from $78.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.18.

Veralto Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VLTO opened at $97.27 on Wednesday. Veralto Co. has a 52-week low of $65.51 and a 52-week high of $97.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $89.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.57.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th.

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.