Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) were up 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $122.50 and last traded at $121.01. Approximately 983,852 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 8,079,442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $120.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRT. Barclays began coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America raised their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.09.

Vertiv Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $44.75 billion, a PE ratio of 79.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.45.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $0.0375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.13%. This is an increase from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s payout ratio is presently 6.67%.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In other news, 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 value of $2,108,370.86. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,526.50. The trade was a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,562,549.57. This trade represents a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Vertiv by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 843,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,876,000 after acquiring an additional 202,576 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Vertiv by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,798,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $584,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,230,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently 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.