Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $148.62 and last traded at $151.61, with a volume of 124542 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VRT shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.75.

Vertiv Trading Up 3.3 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $57.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.65.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Vertiv’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In other news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total value of $11,353,152.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at $2,562,549.57. The trade was a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jan Van Dokkum sold 38,647 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.39, for a total value of $5,271,064.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,409,750. This represents a 60.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682. 5.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vertiv in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.