Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $123.25, but opened at $111.08. Vertiv shares last traded at $112.52, with a volume of 5,840,777 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Vertiv from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.57.

Vertiv Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $41.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.92, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $123.37 and a 200 day moving average of $108.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.0375 dividend. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. This is an increase from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv’s payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

Insider Activity at Vertiv

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRT. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in Vertiv during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lifted its stake in Vertiv by 200.0% in the third quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Vertiv during the third quarter valued at $30,000. 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.