Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading 2.8% Higher – Time to Buy?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s stock price was up 2.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $126.59 and last traded at $125.06. Approximately 1,598,600 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 8,125,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $121.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRT shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.90.

Vertiv Trading Up 3.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.61. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.69.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Vertiv’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total value of $4,373,094.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,751,114.08. This trade represents a 61.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 in the last quarter. 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 VRT. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Vertiv by 10,825.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,695,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558,306 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Vertiv in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $331,091,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Vertiv by 271.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,915,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,548,000 after acquiring an additional 2,860,181 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in Vertiv by 215.6% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 1,864,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,746 shares during the period. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertiv in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,517,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.