Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Up 4.4% – Still a Buy?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s share price was up 4.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $154.79 and last traded at $149.38. Approximately 4,327,371 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 5,918,340 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.75.

Vertiv Stock Up 4.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $126.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.34. The company has a market cap of $56.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.63.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total transaction of $11,353,152.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total value of $2,108,370.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,526.50. The trade was a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 over the last three months. 5.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 10,825.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,695,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558,306 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 271.0% in 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 last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Vertiv by 215.6% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 1,864,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,492,000 after buying an additional 1,273,746 shares during the period. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertiv during the third quarter worth about $110,517,000. Finally, Blue Whale Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the third quarter worth approximately $93,481,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.