AlphaQuest LLC Raises Stake in Veralto Corporation $VLTO

AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veralto Corporation (NYSE:VLTO) by 181.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,335 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,599 shares during the quarter. Veralto accounts for about 0.3% of AlphaQuest LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Veralto were worth $4,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VLTO. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Veralto in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Veralto in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Veralto in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Veralto by 852.9% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veralto during the second quarter worth about $44,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLTO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Veralto from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $112.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Veralto from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Veralto from $123.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.89.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of VLTO stock opened at $98.61 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.02. The firm has a market cap of $24.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.88. Veralto Corporation has a 1-year low of $83.86 and a 1-year high of $110.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Veralto had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Veralto Corporation will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Veralto’s payout ratio is 14.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veralto

In related news, SVP Mattias Bystrom sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.73, for a total transaction of $101,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,197,373.90. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.