Meritage Portfolio Management Buys Shares of 22,683 Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 22,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,866,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLTO. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in Veralto during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Dougherty Wealth Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Veralto in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veralto Price Performance

NYSE:VLTO traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $93.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,785,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,624,563. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.13. Veralto Co. has a one year low of $65.51 and a one year high of $95.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Veralto (NYSE:VLTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Veralto Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veralto Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th.

Insider Activity at Veralto

In related news, insider Mattias Bystrom sold 500 shares of Veralto stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total transaction of $43,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,609,691. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Veralto in a report on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Veralto from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on Veralto from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Veralto in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $79.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Veralto from $78.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.18.

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.