Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price Down 3.8% – What’s Next?

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) was down 3.8% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $196.00 and last traded at $201.6040. Approximately 5,374,975 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 6,573,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $209.64.

Latest Vertiv News

These are some of the VRT news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertiv raised its annual dividend by 60%, from $0.25 to $0.40 per share, citing strong financial performance and cash flow. The new quarterly payment is $0.10 per share, payable December 17 to holders of record November 24. Vertiv Declares Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched its PowerStation 3100 remote power panel for AI and high-performance computing data-center racks exceeding 100 kW. Its 600 A to 1,200 A capacity on a single platform could help operators deploy high-density power distribution without custom engineering. Vertiv Introduces High-Density Remote Power Panel
• Positive Sentiment: Vertiv also unveiled PowerNexus MV UPS, an outdoor medium-voltage system intended to help AI data centers connect to the grid, protect power supply and preserve indoor space for computing. The product broadens its offering for power-constrained data-center projects. Vertiv Introduces Medium-Voltage Power System

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRT shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Vertiv from $320.00 to $245.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $300.00 price target on Vertiv in a report on Thursday, October 29th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $360.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank dropped their target price on Vertiv from $331.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $345.00 price objective on Vertiv in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.70.

Vertiv Stock Down 3.8%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.17. The company has a market cap of $77.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 2.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. Vertiv had a return on equity of 53.31% and a net margin of 15.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 61.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th were given a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 14th. Vertiv’s payout ratio is 4.67%.

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In other news, Director Edward Monser sold 15,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.82, for a total transaction of $3,880,146.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,188,030. This represents a 48.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 4.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,531,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,535,087,000 after acquiring an additional 704,970 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Vertiv by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,794,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,270,428,000 after buying an additional 468,380 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Vertiv by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,138,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,169,000 after buying an additional 23,444 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Vertiv by 1.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,709,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,890,000 after buying an additional 51,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Vertiv by 33.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,410,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,059,000 after purchasing an additional 608,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

About Vertiv

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT) designs, manufactures and services critical digital infrastructure used by data centers, communications networks and commercial and industrial facilities. Its offerings help customers maintain reliable power, cooling and operating conditions for technology systems. The company’s products and solutions include uninterruptible power supplies, power distribution equipment, thermal management systems, racks, integrated modular infrastructure, and monitoring and control software.