Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Down 3% – Should You Sell?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s stock price was down 3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $122.14 and last traded at $125.39. Approximately 2,174,351 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 5,915,102 shares. The stock had previously closed at $129.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.92.

Vertiv Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $48.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $124.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.73.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid 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 yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,562,549.57. This trade represents a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jan Van Dokkum sold 38,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.39, for a total value of $5,271,064.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,409,750. The trade was a 60.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the fourth quarter worth about $4,219,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,553,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,013,000 after purchasing an additional 340,639 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Vertiv by 7.2% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 127,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,656,000 after purchasing an additional 8,579 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertiv during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,403,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 112.5% in the third quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 8,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.