Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Takes $2.14 Million Position in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Veralto Co. (NYSE:VLTO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,139,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veralto in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veralto by 692.3% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Veralto in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Veralto in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Melissa Aquino sold 463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $46,114.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,761 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,795.60. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Veralto Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:VLTO opened at $97.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.06. Veralto Co. has a 52 week low of $83.34 and a 52 week high of $115.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $101.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.04.

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

Veralto Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.11 dividend. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is 13.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Veralto from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Veralto from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Veralto from $116.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veralto in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.