Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading 1.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) traded up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $143.48 and last traded at $137.79. 2,204,520 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 5,613,764 shares. The stock had previously closed at $135.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Vertiv in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.75.

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 firm has a market capitalization of $57.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $127.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.65.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.0375 dividend. This is an increase from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.10%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is 6.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the company’s 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of Vertiv 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $470,526.50. This 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 worth $23,105,682 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 166.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 7,327 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Vertiv by 18.2% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 24,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 3,734 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Vertiv by 97.3% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,382 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vertiv in the second quarter valued at approximately $282,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Vertiv by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 156,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,365,000 after purchasing an additional 45,525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.