Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 2,422 Shares of Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia has reduced its holdings in Veralto Corporation by 2.3%, owning 102,847 shares valued at approximately $10 million as of the latest reporting period.
• Veralto's recent earnings report showed a 16.65% net margin and a year-over-year revenue increase of 6.4%, with earnings per share beating analysts' expectations at $0.93.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, corresponding to a 0.4% dividend yield, and announced a consensus price target of $114 stemming from recent analyst reports.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its position in shares of Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,847 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,422 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Veralto were worth $10,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VLTO. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Veralto by 222.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,602,399 shares of the company's stock worth $265,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794,992 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth about $133,058,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth about $96,888,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth about $51,986,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Veralto by 13.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,259,348 shares of the company's stock worth $415,074,000 after purchasing an additional 509,104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 848 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.55, for a total transaction of $85,266.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,433 shares in the company, valued at $847,938.15. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mattias Bystrom sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.96, for a total transaction of $249,900.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,241,702.80. The trade was a 7.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,806 shares of company stock worth $381,351 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Veralto Price Performance

VLTO stock opened at $106.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $101.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.57. Veralto Corporation has a 52-week low of $83.86 and a 52-week high of $115.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Veralto had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 41.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Veralto Corporation will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Veralto's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on VLTO. Northcoast Research began coverage on Veralto in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Veralto from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Veralto from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Veralto and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.00.

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.

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