Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 432,121 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,628 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.17% of Veralto worth $42,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VLTO. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veralto by 0.5% in the fourth 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. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Veralto by 19.4% in the fourth 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. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Veralto by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 699 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Veralto by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,405 shares of the company's stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Veralto by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Lesley Beneteau sold 458 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.84, for a total value of $46,184.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,368,499.64. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total transaction of $57,259.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $971,567.55. This trade represents a 5.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,917 shares of company stock valued at $5,423,033 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Veralto Stock Performance

VLTO traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $98.67. 1,240,568 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,446,155. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company's fifty day moving average price is $95.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.27. Veralto Co. has a 52-week low of $83.87 and a 52-week high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.08. Veralto had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Veralto's payout ratio is 12.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLTO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Veralto from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Veralto from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Veralto from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of Veralto in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Veralto from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veralto currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $110.09.

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.