Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Veralto Corporation $VLTO

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,116,072 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,380 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.45% of Veralto worth $118,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veralto by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,206,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,049,307,000 after acquiring an additional 468,641 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Veralto by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,257,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,036,653,000 after acquiring an additional 192,139 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 2nd quarter valued at $264,150,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Veralto by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,702,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,800,000 after buying an additional 536,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Veralto by 1.7% during the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,586,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,196,000 after purchasing an additional 27,232 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Veralto from $123.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Veralto from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down from $125.00) on shares of Veralto in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Veralto from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.89.

Veralto Stock Up 2.5%

NYSE:VLTO opened at $101.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.89. Veralto Corporation has a one year low of $83.86 and a one year high of $110.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.02.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.25%.

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