Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Down 4.8% – What’s Next?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s stock price was down 4.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $118.70 and last traded at $122.79. Approximately 3,069,227 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 5,929,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRT. Mizuho raised their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Fox Advisors initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.92.

Vertiv Price Performance

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 $125.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.52 billion, a PE ratio of 87.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.0375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total transaction of $2,108,370.86. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $470,526.50. This represents a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total value of $11,353,152.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,562,549.57. This trade represents a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vertiv in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertiv during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 200.0% in the third quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.