Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price Down 1% – Time to Sell?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) dropped 1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $125.20 and last traded at $129.35. Approximately 4,113,388 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 6,702,735 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Fox Advisors began coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.92.

Vertiv Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $48.40 billion, a PE ratio of 85.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $124.74 and a 200 day moving average of $102.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total transaction of $4,373,094.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total value of $11,353,152.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,562,549.57. This represents a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 10,825.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,695,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558,306 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Vertiv in the second quarter worth $331,091,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 271.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,915,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,548,000 after acquiring an additional 2,860,181 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 215.6% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 1,864,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertiv in the third quarter worth $110,517,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertiv Company Profile

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.