Searle & CO. Invests $244,000 in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Searle & CO. bought a new position in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. acquired a new stake in Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at $1,732,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veralto during the 4th quarter worth $117,000. Park National Corp OH acquired a new position in shares of Veralto during the 4th quarter worth $1,243,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Veralto during the 4th quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in shares of Veralto during the 4th quarter worth $285,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 8,041 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total value of $752,315.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,942,399.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Mattias Bystrom sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total value of $43,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,609,691. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 8,041 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total value of $752,315.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,942,399.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VLTO traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.38. 1,091,863 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,613,108. The company’s fifty day moving average is $88.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.74. Veralto Co. has a fifty-two week low of $65.51 and a fifty-two week high of $95.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VLTO. BNP Paribas began coverage on Veralto in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Veralto from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Veralto from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Veralto in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $79.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Veralto from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.18.

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.