JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 92,800 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,541,448 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,800 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $258,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in Veralto by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,570,000 after buying an additional 3,392 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Veralto by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 393,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,645,000 after purchasing an additional 47,486 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in Veralto by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 191,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,467,000 after buying an additional 72,737 shares in the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at about $285,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLTO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veralto has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.50.

Veralto Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of VLTO stock opened at $95.97 on Monday. 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 $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. Veralto Co. has a twelve month low of $85.91 and a twelve month high of $115.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.94.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Veralto’s payout ratio is currently 13.17%.

Insider Transactions at Veralto

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $46,114.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,795.60. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.56, for a total value of $1,026,403.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 116,637 shares in the company, valued at $11,495,742.72. This trade represents a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,881 shares of company stock worth $2,176,770. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.