Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading 4.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) was up 4.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $120.80 and last traded at $120.23. Approximately 1,809,070 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 8,068,991 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRT. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America raised their target price on Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertiv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.09.

Vertiv Trading Up 4.0 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $121.39 and its 200-day moving average is $98.68. The firm has a market cap of $45.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,562,549.57. The trade was a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,751,114.08. The trade was a 61.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRT. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Vertiv by 18.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in Vertiv by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 13,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC lifted its position in Vertiv by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 10,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 14,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.