Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Down 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares dropped 1.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $123.30 and last traded at $123.99. Approximately 921,070 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 8,107,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on VRT shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group began coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Vertiv in a report on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.09.

Vertiv Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $120.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.21. The firm has a market cap of $47.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.82, a PEG 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.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 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 company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 an increase from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.12%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at $2,562,549.57. This represents a 81.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRT. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Vertiv by 31.6% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 843,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,876,000 after acquiring an additional 202,576 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 18.6% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,798,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $584,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

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.