Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 441,867 Shares of Veralto Corporation $VLTO

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) by 97.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,440 shares of the company’s stock after selling 441,867 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VLTO. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Veralto in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Veralto by 852.9% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Veralto during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veralto Price Performance

VLTO stock opened at $102.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.09. Veralto Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.86 and a 1 year high of $110.11. The stock has a market cap of $25.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Veralto had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 16.75%.Veralto’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Veralto has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.820-3.850 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.950-0.980 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Veralto Corporation will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Veralto’s payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veralto

In other news, SVP Mattias Bystrom sold 1,000 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.73, for a total value of $101,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,430 shares in the company, valued at $3,197,373.90. This trade represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Veralto from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Veralto in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Veralto from $112.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Veralto from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Veralto from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.89.

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. This segment provides water solutions, including chemical reagents, services, and digital solutions.