Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. by 203.3%, owning 7,758 shares valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares in the first quarter.
• Vertiv reported a $0.95 EPS for its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.83 and demonstrating a substantial 35.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company recently announced a dividend increase to $0.0375 per share, representing a dividend yield of 14.0%, a significant rise from its previous dividend of $0.01.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 203.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,758 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Vertiv were worth $560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Vertiv by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,160 shares of the company's stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 485,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,192,000 after purchasing an additional 54,212 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 51,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,894,000 after purchasing an additional 5,097 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,434 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,867,000 after purchasing an additional 5,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Vertiv Stock Performance

VRT opened at $132.45 on Friday. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 52-week low of $53.60 and a 52-week high of $155.84. The company has a market cap of $50.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.37, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $127.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a $0.0375 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 14.0%. This is a positive change from Vertiv's previous dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Capital upped their price target on shares of Vertiv from $100.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Melius raised shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertiv in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Vertiv in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.06.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In other news, insider Karsten Winther sold 41,654 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.21, for a total value of $5,590,383.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 18,848 shares in the company, valued at $2,529,590.08. This represents a 68.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,292.33. The trade was a 82.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertiv 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.

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