Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Down 3.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) dropped 3.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $142.00 to $131.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Vertiv traded as low as $107.12 and last traded at $107.35. Approximately 5,397,616 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 10,108,741 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.24.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group assumed 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. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.57.

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In related news, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,526.50. This trade represents a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682. Company insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vertiv during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertiv during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertiv by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertiv Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $123.88 and its 200 day moving average is $108.11. 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 capitalization of $40.44 billion, a PE ratio of 71.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.67%.

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.