Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) Stock: Insider Bernard Skeete Sells 1,514 Shares

Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) CAO Bernard Skeete sold 1,514 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.58, for a total transaction of $170,446.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,760 shares in the company, valued at $535,880.80. The trade was a 24.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Veralto Stock Performance

Shares of VLTO stock traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $117.07. 2,308,309 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,985,710. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $98.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.27. Veralto Corporation has a 52 week low of $80.03 and a 52 week high of $118.41.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Veralto had a net margin of 17.27% and a return on equity of 35.08%. Veralto’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Veralto Corporation will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. Veralto’s payout ratio is currently 12.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veralto

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VLTO. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,150,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,304 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Veralto by 16.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,797,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,785,000 after acquiring an additional 531,478 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Veralto by 8.4% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,285,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,946,000 after acquiring an additional 255,749 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Veralto during the second quarter valued at approximately $235,200,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Veralto by 3.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,095,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,266,000 after purchasing an additional 69,578 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLTO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Veralto from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Veralto from $109.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Veralto from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on Veralto from $117.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Veralto in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.70.

About Veralto

Veralto Corporation (NYSE: VLTO) is a global provider of technology, products and services that help customers manage water quality and improve the quality, safety and efficiency of packaged goods. The company serves municipal, industrial, commercial and consumer-facing markets through a portfolio of operating businesses.

Veralto’s Water Quality segment provides instruments, software and services used to test, monitor and treat water and wastewater. Its brands include Hach, Trojan Technologies and ChemTreat, which support applications such as laboratory and field testing, disinfection, water treatment and industrial water management.

The company’s Product Quality & Innovation segment supplies technologies used in product identification, packaging design, color management and quality inspection.