Weitz Investment Management Inc. Cuts Position in Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO)

Key Points

• Weitz Investment Management Inc. significantly reduced its holdings in Veralto Corporation by 87.4%, selling 261,199 shares and ending up with 37,500 shares worth approximately $3.65 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 91.28% of Veralto's stock, with several firms, including Invesco Ltd. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp, recently increasing their stakes in the company.
• Veralto announced a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, with a current dividend yield of 0.4% and a dividend payout ratio of 12.29%.

Weitz Investment Management Inc. cut its position in Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) by 87.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,500 shares of the company's stock after selling 261,199 shares during the quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Veralto were worth $3,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VLTO. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Veralto by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,541,367 shares of the company's stock worth $462,538,000 after acquiring an additional 401,228 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Veralto by 13.6% during the 1st 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 period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Veralto by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,157,143 shares of the company's stock worth $321,555,000 after purchasing an additional 431,607 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Veralto by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,066,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $298,831,000 after purchasing an additional 29,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veralto by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,610,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,927,000 after buying an additional 291,472 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Veralto Trading Down 0.2%

VLTO opened at $104.59 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Veralto Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.86 and a 52 week high of $115.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $101.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.54. The firm has a market cap of $25.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.91.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.93 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 the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Veralto's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Veralto Corporation will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Veralto from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Veralto from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $120.00 target price on Veralto and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Veralto from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VLTO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.