Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading 2.8% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) traded up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $126.59 and last traded at $125.06. 1,598,600 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 8,125,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $121.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRT shares. UBS Group started coverage on Vertiv in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.90.

Vertiv Stock Up 3.8 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.69. The company has a market capitalization of $47.41 billion, a PE ratio of 83.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.0375 dividend. This is a boost from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total transaction of $11,353,152.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,562,549.57. The trade was a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total value of $4,373,094.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,751,114.08. This represents a 61.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 in the last three months. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the second quarter worth $375,000. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the second quarter worth $212,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the second quarter worth $1,480,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 140.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 45,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,923,000 after acquiring an additional 26,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the second quarter worth $361,000. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertiv Company Profile

Vertiv Holdings Co, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and services critical digital infrastructure technologies and life cycle services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.