Eastern Bank Purchases 3,500 Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

Key Points

• Eastern Bank increased its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. by 172.4% in Q1, bringing its total holdings to 5,530 shares worth $399,000.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Vertiv, with multiple firms issuing buy ratings and raising price targets, reflecting a consensus average target price of $144.06.
• Vertiv recently announced a dividend increase to $0.0375 per share, up from $0.01, indicating a strong dividend yield of 14.0% and a payout ratio of 7.18%.

Eastern Bank raised its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 172.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,530 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Eastern Bank's holdings in Vertiv were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Vertiv during the first quarter worth $26,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Vertiv by 4,120.0% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 422 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in Vertiv by 242.0% during the first quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in Vertiv by 211.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 315 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Vertiv during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 18,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,777,837.51. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.83, for a total transaction of $5,059,801.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,292.33. The trade was a 82.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Vertiv Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:VRT traded down $3.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $141.66. 10,317,134 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,340,559. The company has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 67.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $122.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.87. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 12 month low of $53.60 and a 12 month high of $155.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Vertiv had a return on equity of 51.64% and a net margin of 8.93%. Vertiv's quarterly revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KGI Securities initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Melius raised shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Vertiv from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $100.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.06.

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.