Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Up 2% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) rose 2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $149.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vertiv traded as high as $129.44 and last traded at $127.17. Approximately 2,572,656 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 8,587,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.72.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on VRT. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Vertiv from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Roth Capital raised shares of Vertiv to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Melius Research raised Vertiv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertiv currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv

In related news, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total value of $518,815.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 18,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,777,837.51. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.83, for a total transaction of $5,059,801.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,292.33. The trade was a 82.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vertiv by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,723,034,000 after buying an additional 1,359,070 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 96.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 6,951,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,490,000 after acquiring an additional 3,420,144 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertiv by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,050,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,260,000 after acquiring an additional 99,181 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the fourth quarter valued at $597,379,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Vertiv by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,905,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $557,349,000 after purchasing an additional 990,361 shares in the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertiv Stock Down 1.6%

The stock has a market cap of $47.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $114.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.93.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 56.01%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.0375 dividend. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous dividend of $0.01. This represents a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.72%.

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.