Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Down 3.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s stock price was down 3.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $142.00 to $131.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Vertiv traded as low as $107.12 and last traded at $107.35. Approximately 5,397,616 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 10,108,741 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.24.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Vertiv in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertiv has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.57.

Insider Activity 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 value of $11,353,152.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,448 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682 in the last quarter. 5.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its stake in Vertiv by 200.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the third quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

Vertiv Stock Down 3.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $40.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $123.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.11.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $0.0375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

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.