Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 613,625 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,532 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Veralto worth $68,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veralto in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Veralto during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 11,100.0% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veralto Price Performance

Veralto stock opened at $103.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.50 billion and a P/E ratio of 32.35. Veralto Co. has a one year low of $70.06 and a one year high of $115.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $108.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.13.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. Veralto had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 52.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Veralto Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.11%.

Insider Activity at Veralto

In other news, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 13,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.15, for a total transaction of $1,452,878.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,260,841.90. This trade represents a 8.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 7,399 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $813,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,393,810. The trade was a 36.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,038 shares of company stock valued at $3,989,693 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Veralto from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Veralto from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $118.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Veralto from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Veralto from $98.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.27.

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.