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

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 66,129 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 56% compared to the typical daily volume of 42,292 call options.

Vertiv Stock Performance

Shares of VRT stock traded down $6.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $81.75. 8,275,717 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,974,588. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.65. Vertiv has a 12-month low of $62.40 and a 12-month high of $155.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.71.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. Vertiv had a return on equity of 61.41% and a net margin of 6.19%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vertiv will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Vertiv from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Fox Advisors initiated coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Finally, Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 19.9% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,112,000 after buying an additional 5,187 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 29.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 583,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,080,000 after purchasing an additional 133,481 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertiv by 147.9% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 14,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the third quarter worth $1,063,000. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.