Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 21,939 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 39.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 77,217 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,939 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Veralto were worth $7,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Veralto during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Veralto by 692.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Veralto by 2,100.0% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Veralto in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veralto Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLTO opened at $98.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.06. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $81.23 and a fifty-two week high of $115.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.25.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a return on equity of 52.85% and a net margin of 15.69%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Veralto Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.11 dividend. This is a positive change from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date 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 13.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLTO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Veralto in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.55.

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.