Davis R M Inc. Lowers Holdings in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Davis R M Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,992 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,092 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $2,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in shares of Veralto by 2,100.0% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Veralto during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $46,114.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,795.60. This trade represents a 2.18 % 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 link. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $59,206.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,470 shares in the company, valued at $849,964.50. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,467 shares of company stock valued at $1,150,366 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of VLTO opened at $97.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. Veralto Co. has a fifty-two week low of $85.90 and a fifty-two week high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veralto presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.55.

Veralto Company 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.