Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price Down 3.1% – What’s Next?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s share price fell 3.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $125.20 and last traded at $126.57. 1,637,571 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 6,181,443 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, 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. 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.92.

Vertiv Price Performance

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 capitalization of $48.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.91, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $123.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.34.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In related news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,751,114.08. The trade was a 61.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 transaction of $2,108,370.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,526.50. This represents a 81.75 % 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. Corporate insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertiv by 6.1% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 57,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,005,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Vertiv by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 36,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,191,000 after purchasing an additional 7,163 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vertiv by 166.5% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 10,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 6,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in Vertiv in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,030,000. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

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.