Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 3,466 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 151,388 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,466 shares during the period. Veralto accounts for about 1.0% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Veralto were worth $15,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLTO. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Veralto by 9.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,599,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,074,654,000 after purchasing an additional 860,608 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Veralto by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,868,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,232,000 after buying an additional 558,393 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Veralto by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,923,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,170 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Veralto by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,329,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,462,000 after acquiring an additional 162,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Veralto by 0.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,885,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,827,000 after acquiring an additional 11,430 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on VLTO shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Veralto from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of 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 issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.18.

Veralto Price Performance

NYSE:VLTO opened at $101.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Veralto Co. has a 12-month low of $75.05 and a 12-month high of $115.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $103.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.06.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 52.85%. On average, analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. This is an increase from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Veralto’s payout ratio is presently 13.58%.

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.