43,094 Shares in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) Purchased by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. acquired 43,094 shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) valued at approximately $3.1 million in the first quarter.
• Analysts are optimistic about Vertiv, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $136.76.
• Vertiv recently increased its dividend from $0.01 to $0.0375 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.14%.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 43,094 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,111,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,050,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $688,260,000 after purchasing an additional 99,181 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Vertiv in the 4th quarter valued at $597,379,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Vertiv by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,905,807 shares of the company's stock valued at $557,349,000 after buying an additional 990,361 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertiv by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,647,326 shares of the company's stock worth $414,373,000 after acquiring an additional 167,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth $391,777,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Melius raised shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Vertiv from $100.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Vertiv from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Vertiv from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.76.

Vertiv Stock Performance

Shares of VRT stock opened at $137.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $118.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.41 billion, a PE ratio of 79.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 52 week low of $53.60 and a 52 week high of $155.84.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. Vertiv had a return on equity of 56.01% and a net margin of 7.92%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.0375 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from Vertiv's previous dividend of $0.01. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.72%.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.83, for a total transaction of $5,059,801.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,292.33. This represents a 82.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total transaction of $518,815.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 18,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,777,837.51. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% 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.

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