Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Down 4.4% – Should You Sell?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares were down 4.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $119.20 and last traded at $120.42. Approximately 2,188,047 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 8,092,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VRT shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays started coverage on Vertiv in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group started coverage on Vertiv in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.09.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $120.83 and a 200-day moving average of $98.29. The firm has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Vertiv’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.12%. Vertiv’s payout ratio is 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertiv 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $470,526.50. This trade represents a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 in the last 90 days. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.