Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares traded down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $139.14 and last traded at $139.77. 1,324,611 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 8,188,487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.49.

Specifically, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total value of $4,373,094.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,448 shares in the company, valued at $2,751,114.08. This trade represents a 61.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.50.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.20.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.0375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.11%. This is a boost from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRT. Old West Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 44.1% in the 3rd quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 28,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 8,683 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. raised its stake in Vertiv by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 498,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,585,000 after buying an additional 43,148 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 1.2% during the third quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 15,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,498,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Vertiv by 26.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 43,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,330,000 after acquiring an additional 9,150 shares during the period. Finally, TT International Asset Management LTD raised its position in shares of Vertiv by 746.5% during the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 50,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,984,000 after purchasing an additional 44,180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

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.