Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 4,446,305 shares, a decrease of 19.8% from the January 15th total of 5,543,616 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,487,784 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,487,784 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mattias Bystrom sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.73, for a total transaction of $101,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,197,373.90. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VLTO. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto during the third quarter valued at about $6,708,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in shares of Veralto by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 380,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,609,000 after purchasing an additional 22,464 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Veralto by 1,579.5% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 12,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 11,578 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Veralto during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,919,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Veralto by 8.9% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,159,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,605,000 after buying an additional 94,607 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Price Performance

Veralto stock opened at $92.46 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.89. Veralto has a 52-week low of $83.86 and a 52-week high of $110.11.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.06. Veralto had a net margin of 17.08% and a return on equity of 35.77%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Veralto’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Veralto has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.970-1.010 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veralto will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLTO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $118.00 price target on shares of Veralto in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $102.00 price target on Veralto and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Veralto from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.22.

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. This segment provides water solutions, including chemical reagents, services, and digital solutions.