Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price Up 4.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) rose 4.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $130.88 and last traded at $129.65. Approximately 2,054,388 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 5,919,340 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertiv has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.92.

Vertiv Trading Up 3.2 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.36, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its earnings results 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 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 company earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.0375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.12%. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 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 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total transaction of $2,108,370.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $470,526.50. This trade represents a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Vertiv in the 4th quarter valued at $4,219,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 15.4% in the second 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. increased its stake in Vertiv by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 127,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,656,000 after buying an additional 8,579 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,403,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd boosted its position in Vertiv by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 8,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. 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.