Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Holdings in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 234 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Veralto were worth $1,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VLTO. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Veralto by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 20,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Veralto by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Veralto by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $821,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Veralto by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 622 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its holdings in Veralto by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLTO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veralto presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $46,114.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,795.60. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Price Performance

VLTO stock opened at $98.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.06. Veralto Co. has a 1 year low of $85.70 and a 1 year high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio is 13.17%.

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.