Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Up 3.6% – Here’s What Happened

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares rose 3.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $153.77 and last traded at $154.01. Approximately 2,199,139 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 6,016,892 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Vertiv from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Vertiv in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertiv presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.75.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $58.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.73, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.63.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.0375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.10%. This is a boost from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total value of $4,373,094.44. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,448 shares in the company, valued at $2,751,114.08. This trade represents a 61.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total value of $2,108,370.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,526.50. This trade represents a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 over the last 90 days. 5.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,635,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,614,000 after purchasing an additional 308,704 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vertiv by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,951,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,433,000 after buying an additional 408,054 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Vertiv by 10,825.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,695,000 after buying an additional 4,558,306 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 271.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,915,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,548,000 after buying an additional 2,860,181 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 3,611,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,315,000 after acquiring an additional 40,696 shares in the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vertiv

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.