Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Vertiv (NYSE:VRT)

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 42,410 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 24% compared to the average volume of 34,189 call options.

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, 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 transaction 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. This represents a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of Vertiv 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,751,114.08. This trade represents a 61.38 % 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 worth $23,105,682. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,219,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertiv by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 185,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,076,000 after buying an additional 13,559 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 127,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,656,000 after buying an additional 8,579 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,403,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd grew its holdings in Vertiv by 112.5% during the third quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 8,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

Vertiv Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:VRT opened at $117.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.97 billion, a PE ratio of 78.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.63. Vertiv has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $155.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $126.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.81. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.13%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on VRT shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Vertiv from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.36.

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.