Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) Shares Sold by Gates Capital Management Inc.

Gates Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,205,323 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Veralto makes up approximately 2.3% of Gates Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Gates Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $122,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Veralto in the 4th quarter worth approximately $289,028,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Veralto by 222.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,602,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,054,000 after buying an additional 1,794,992 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veralto in the 4th quarter valued at $133,058,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,888,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 207.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,122,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,608,000 after buying an additional 757,389 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veralto Price Performance

NYSE:VLTO opened at $97.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.86. Veralto Co. has a 1-year low of $83.87 and a 1-year high of $115.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.06 billion, a PE ratio of 29.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Veralto had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 16.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio is 12.57%.

Insider Transactions at Veralto

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 31,689 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.67, for a total value of $2,968,308.63. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,633,042.78. This trade represents a 64.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $989,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,090,805. This represents a 8.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,578 shares of company stock valued at $6,192,048. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLTO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Veralto from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Veralto from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Veralto from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Veralto from $116.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Veralto in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veralto currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.09.

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.