Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Down 2.8% on Insider Selling

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) traded down 2.8% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $135.13 and last traded at $136.29. 2,138,548 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 8,177,827 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.15.

Specifically, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,526.50. The trade was a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,751,114.08. This represents a 61.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.50.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $49.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.78, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.67.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.0375 dividend. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 worth $759,614,000 after buying an additional 308,704 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertiv by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,951,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,433,000 after acquiring an additional 408,054 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 10,825.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,695,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558,306 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 acquiring an additional 2,860,181 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Vertiv in the 2nd quarter valued at about $331,091,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.