Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading 4.1% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) rose 4.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $120.80 and last traded at $120.23. Approximately 1,809,070 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 8,068,991 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRT has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.09.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jan Van Dokkum sold 38,647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,409,750. This trade represents a 60.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total transaction of $11,353,152.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,562,549.57. This represents a 81.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682. Company insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRT. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

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.