Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Up 2.9% – Should You Buy?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shot up 2.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $136.80 and last traded at $136.44. 1,316,571 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 5,583,676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on VRT shares. Fox Advisors assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Vertiv in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertiv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.75.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.16. 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 has a market cap of $51.33 billion, a PE ratio of 91.15, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.63.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.0375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a boost from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.11%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv

In other news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total transaction of $4,373,094.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,751,114.08. This trade represents a 61.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total value of $2,108,370.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,526.50. This represents a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682 in the last ninety days. 5.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the third quarter worth $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertiv during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC boosted its stake in Vertiv by 200.0% in the third quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertiv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by 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.