Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Buys 4,890 Shares of Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) by 50.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,594 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,890 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Veralto were worth $1,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VLTO. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Veralto in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Veralto by 692.3% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in Veralto by 2,100.0% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 352 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Veralto during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Veralto by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VLTO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Veralto from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Veralto from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veralto presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.18.

Veralto Stock Down 0.6 %

VLTO stock opened at $102.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Veralto Co. has a 1-year low of $75.05 and a 1-year high of $115.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $103.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.24.

Veralto Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. This is a boost from Veralto’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Veralto’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Surekha Trivedi sold 752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.91, for a total transaction of $77,388.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,601.83. This represents a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.