Defender Capital LLC. Acquires 28,098 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Defender Capital LLC. increased its holdings in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,973 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,098 shares during the period. Veralto accounts for 5.4% of Defender Capital LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Defender Capital LLC. owned 0.06% of Veralto worth $14,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VLTO. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veralto during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Veralto by 692.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in Veralto by 2,100.0% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Veralto by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLTO opened at $102.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $103.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Veralto Co. has a 1-year low of $75.05 and a 1-year high of $115.00.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. This is a positive change from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veralto

In related news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.91, for a total value of $77,388.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,601.83. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VLTO. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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 started coverage on shares of Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.18.

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.