Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $115.08 Million Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,129,919 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,021 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of Veralto worth $115,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VLTO. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,923,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,928,000 after buying an additional 1,009,170 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Veralto by 9.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,599,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,074,654,000 after acquiring an additional 860,608 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Veralto by 10.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,868,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $654,232,000 after acquiring an additional 558,393 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Veralto by 628.4% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 579,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,998,000 after acquiring an additional 499,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Veralto by 29.0% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,864,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,511,000 after acquiring an additional 418,588 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,795.60. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veralto Price Performance

Veralto stock opened at $97.76 on Wednesday. Veralto Co. has a 12 month low of $83.34 and a 12 month high of $115.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $102.03 and its 200-day moving average is $106.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $24.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.06.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Veralto Co. will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.11 dividend. This is an increase from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

About Veralto

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.