Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Purchases 13,340 Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

Key Points

• Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co. by 23.0%, acquiring an additional 13,340 shares, bringing their total to 71,219 shares valued at approximately $5.14 million.
• Analysts have given Vertiv a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with 18 buy ratings and a price target averaging $144.06, reflecting optimism about the company's performance.
• Vertiv recently declared a dividend increase to $0.0375 per share, substantially up from $0.01, resulting in a dividend yield of 14.0% and a payout ratio of 7.18%.

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its position in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 23.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,219 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,340 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP's holdings in Vertiv were worth $5,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 4,120.0% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 422 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 242.0% in the 1st quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 211.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 315 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In other news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.83, for a total value of $5,059,801.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,292.33. This trade represents a 82.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total value of $518,815.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 18,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,777,837.51. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Vertiv in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer set a $151.00 price target on Vertiv and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Melius Research raised Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $134.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vertiv from $127.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Vertiv from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.06.

Vertiv Stock Performance

Shares of Vertiv stock traded down $3.94 on Friday, hitting $141.66. The stock had a trading volume of 10,317,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,340,559. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a twelve month low of $53.60 and a twelve month high of $155.84. The business's 50 day moving average is $122.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.77.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.12. Vertiv had a return on equity of 51.64% and a net margin of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.0375 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 14.0%. This is an increase from Vertiv's previous dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.18%.

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.