Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Down 2.8% – What’s Next?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares fell 2.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $126.01 and last traded at $130.28. 3,188,889 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 6,168,695 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRT. Fox Advisors started coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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 objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.92.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $48.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.54. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a boost from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at $2,562,549.57. This trade represents a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,526.50. The trade was a 81.75 % 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. Corporate insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Vertiv during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertiv in the third quarter worth $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its stake in Vertiv by 200.0% during the third quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the third quarter worth $30,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertiv Company Profile

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.