Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Stock Holdings in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,040,745 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 85,505 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.42% of Veralto worth $105,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VLTO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Veralto during the 4th quarter worth $289,028,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veralto by 222.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,602,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,054,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,992 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $133,058,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,888,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veralto by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,601,676 shares of the company's stock valued at $670,781,000 after acquiring an additional 733,056 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Veralto from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Veralto in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Veralto from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Veralto from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Veralto from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $110.09.

Veralto Trading Down 0.5%

VLTO traded down $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $100.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,065,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,477,603. Veralto Co. has a twelve month low of $83.87 and a twelve month high of $115.00. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $94.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Veralto's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Veralto's payout ratio is 12.57%.

Insider Transactions at Veralto

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 31,689 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,633,042.78. This represents a 64.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,418 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $989,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,090,805. This trade represents a 8.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,073 shares of company stock valued at $6,442,018 over the last ninety days. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.