Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys Shares of 243,832 Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 243,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,834,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.10% of Veralto as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VLTO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth about $289,028,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Veralto by 222.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,602,399 shares of the company's stock worth $265,054,000 after buying an additional 1,794,992 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth about $133,058,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth about $96,888,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Veralto by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,601,676 shares of the company's stock worth $670,781,000 after buying an additional 733,056 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veralto Price Performance

VLTO stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $100.92. 3,079,272 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,475,389. Veralto Co. has a 12 month low of $83.87 and a 12 month high of $115.00. 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 fifty day moving average price of $95.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Veralto's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Veralto's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other Veralto news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 31,689 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.67, for a total transaction of $2,968,308.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,434 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,633,042.78. This represents a 64.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Lesley Beneteau sold 458 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.84, for a total value of $46,184.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,571 shares in the company, valued at $1,368,499.64. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,069 shares of company stock valued at $5,337,767. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

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.