Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Down 1.2% on Insider Selling

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) traded down 1.2% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $139.14 and last traded at $139.77. 1,324,611 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 8,188,487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.49.

Specifically, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,526.50. The trade was a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total value of $4,373,094.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,751,114.08. This represents a 61.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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 research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.50.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.94 and a 200 day moving average of $95.20. 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 firm has a market cap of $52.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.58.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.0375 dividend. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRT. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Vertiv by 1,019.3% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 3,649 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Vertiv by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 3,114 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Vertiv by 108.0% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Vertiv in the first quarter valued at approximately $6,084,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv during the first quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

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.