Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co. $VRT

Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC lowered its position in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) by 15.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,120,137 shares of the company’s stock after selling 204,481 shares during the period. Vertiv comprises 4.2% of Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Vertiv were worth $168,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in Vertiv by 1,560.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Vertiv in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertiv by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its stake in shares of Vertiv by 99.1% during the 2nd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 213 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Vertiv by 54.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on VRT shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. KGI Securities raised shares of Vertiv from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vertiv from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Vertiv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 5,501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.48, for a total transaction of $937,810.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $690,444. This represents a 57.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertiv Price Performance

Shares of Vertiv stock opened at $181.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $69.39 billion, a PE ratio of 68.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.10. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 12-month low of $53.60 and a 12-month high of $202.45.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.25. Vertiv had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 50.82%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. Vertiv’s quarterly revenue was up 29.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were paid a $0.0625 dividend. This is a boost from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. Vertiv’s payout ratio is currently 9.43%.

Vertiv Company Profile

Vertiv is a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions for data centers, communication networks and commercial and industrial environments. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the company designs, manufactures and services equipment and software that support power availability, thermal management and IT infrastructure management for a broad set of end markets, including hyperscale and enterprise data centers, colocation providers, telecom operators and industrial customers.

The company’s product portfolio includes uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), power distribution units (PDUs), battery and DC power systems, precision cooling and thermal management equipment, racks and enclosures, and integrated modular infrastructure.