Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Up 0.8% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) traded up 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $119.57 and last traded at $118.74. 1,725,805 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 8,057,917 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertiv has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.09.

Vertiv Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $44.57 billion, a PE ratio of 79.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.61. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.33.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.13%. This is a boost from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.67%.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In related news, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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. This represents a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682. 5.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 4.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,635,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,614,000 after buying an additional 308,704 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vertiv by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,951,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,433,000 after purchasing an additional 408,054 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 10,825.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,695,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558,306 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Vertiv by 271.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,915,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,548,000 after buying an additional 2,860,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Vertiv during the 2nd quarter valued at about $331,091,000. 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.