Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 393,303 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 47,486 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $39,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 191,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,467,000 after acquiring an additional 72,737 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new stake in Veralto in the fourth quarter worth approximately $285,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Veralto in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in Veralto by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Veralto during the 4th quarter valued at $8,514,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veralto Stock Performance

VLTO opened at $95.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 1.11. Veralto Co. has a 1-year low of $85.91 and a 1-year high of $115.00.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. Veralto had a net margin of 16.04% and a return on equity of 49.29%. Equities analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $59,206.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,470 shares in the company, valued at $849,964.50. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jennifer Honeycutt sold 10,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.56, for a total value of $1,026,403.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 116,637 shares in the company, valued at $11,495,742.72. This represents a 8.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,881 shares of company stock valued at $2,176,770. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VLTO shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on 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 initiated coverage on Veralto in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.50.

Veralto 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.