Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Up 3.6% – What’s Next?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s stock price shot up 3.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $153.77 and last traded at $154.01. 2,199,139 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 6,016,892 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRT. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Fox Advisors started coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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, Vertiv has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.75.

Vertiv Trading Up 4.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $127.11 and its 200 day moving average is $104.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.63.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its 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. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,751,114.08. This represents a 61.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total value 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 $2,562,549.57. This represents a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Vertiv by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Vertiv by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Vertiv by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 638 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertiv by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 13,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.