Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price Down 3.2% – What’s Next?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s share price dropped 3.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $147.51 and last traded at $148.62. Approximately 2,925,960 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 6,182,233 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRT shares. Barclays began coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.75.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $128.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.36. The company has a market capitalization of $54.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.35, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Vertiv news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total transaction of $4,373,094.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,448 shares in the company, valued at $2,751,114.08. This represents a 61.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,526.50. This represents a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora purchased a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Vertiv by 200.0% in the third quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 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.