Woodline Partners LP Makes New Investment in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $700,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Veralto during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Veralto during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,571 shares in the company, valued at $1,368,499.64. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 31,689 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.67, for a total value of $2,968,308.63. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,633,042.78. This represents a 64.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,069 shares of company stock valued at $5,337,767 in the last three months. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VLTO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Veralto from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Veralto in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Veralto from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Veralto from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Veralto currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $110.09.

Veralto Trading Down 0.8%

VLTO traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $100.71. 882,204 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,472,520. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $94.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.56. Veralto Co. has a 52-week low of $83.87 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Veralto Announces Dividend

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

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.