Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price Up 1.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shot up 1.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $124.55 and last traded at $123.60. 2,622,899 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 9,728,225 shares. The stock had previously closed at $121.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VRT shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Vertiv from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 raised their target price on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.36.

Vertiv Stock Down 9.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.09. The firm has a market cap of $41.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

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 was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.13%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertiv news, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total value of $2,108,370.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $470,526.50. This trade represents a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total transaction of $11,353,152.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 have sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682. Company insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vertiv in the 4th quarter worth $4,219,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 185,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,076,000 after buying an additional 13,559 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 7.2% in the third 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 shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,403,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 8,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring 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.