Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price Down 8.3% – What’s Next?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s stock price was down 8.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $110.75 and last traded at $112.96. Approximately 8,153,824 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 9,807,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Melius lowered Vertiv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Vertiv in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.36.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $42.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.0375 dividend. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv’s payout ratio is 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at $2,562,549.57. This represents a 81.59 % 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 over the last 90 days. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora acquired a new position in Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vertiv by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 292 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.