Needham Investment Management LLC Has $28.65 Million Stock Holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)

Needham Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 288,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,500 shares during the quarter. Vertiv accounts for 2.2% of Needham Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Needham Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vertiv were worth $28,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VRT. Jennison Associates LLC grew 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 worth $457,695,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558,306 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 2nd quarter valued at about $331,091,000. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 215.6% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 1,864,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,746 shares during the period. Blue Whale Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter valued at about $93,481,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 297.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 908,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,362,000 after purchasing an additional 679,565 shares during the period. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRT. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Vertiv from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertiv news, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,526.50. This represents a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total value of $11,353,152.33. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Vertiv Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VRT traded up $1.40 on Tuesday, reaching $128.41. 1,400,216 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,144,342. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.26. Vertiv Holdings Co has a 52 week low of $43.66 and a 52 week high of $145.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 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.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. Vertiv’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.0375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.12%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.