Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,654 shares of the company’s stock after selling 885 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Veralto were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter worth about $2,127,330,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter worth about $538,324,000. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter worth about $528,018,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter worth about $347,827,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter worth about $266,143,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of VLTO stock traded up $5.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.87. The company had a trading volume of 3,164,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,589,276. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.99 and a 200-day moving average of $91.09. The company has a market capitalization of $25.89 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81. Veralto Co. has a 12-month low of $65.51 and a 12-month high of $107.86.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Veralto had a return on equity of 62.93% and a net margin of 15.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Veralto’s payout ratio is 9.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mattias Bystrom sold 302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.38, for a total value of $30,314.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 34,045 shares in the company, valued at $3,417,437.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Veralto from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen began coverage on Veralto in a research note on Monday, June 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Veralto from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Veralto from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Veralto in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.08.

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.