Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 510,415 Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 510,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,986,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.21% of Veralto at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,141,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Veralto in the fourth quarter worth about $250,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Veralto by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 414,287 shares of the company's stock worth $42,195,000 after purchasing an additional 57,304 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Veralto by 130.5% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 16,089 shares of the company's stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 9,108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Veralto Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:VLTO traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $89.59. 1,691,548 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,488,770. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.97. 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 quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.68.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Veralto's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Veralto from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veralto has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $111.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total transaction of $57,259.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,011 shares in the company, valued at $971,567.55. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $1,045,044.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 104,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,486,173.60. The trade was a 9.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,471 shares of company stock valued at $2,234,030. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

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.