Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Up 3.6% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shot up 3.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $153.77 and last traded at $154.01. 2,199,139 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 6,016,892 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRT. Mizuho raised their price target on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Fox Advisors began coverage on Vertiv in a research report 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.75.

Vertiv Stock Down 4.9 %

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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.36. The company has a market cap of $54.81 billion, a PE ratio of 97.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $0.0375 dividend. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.10%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.67%.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In related news, Director Jan Van Dokkum sold 38,647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.39, for a total transaction of $5,271,064.33. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,409,750. The trade was a 60.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total transaction of $11,353,152.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,562,549.57. This represents a 81.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertiv during the second quarter worth $26,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its position in Vertiv by 200.0% during the third quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Vertiv during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently 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.