Invesco Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. by 31.1%, selling over 2.2 million shares during the first quarter.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Vertiv, with Citigroup raising their price objective to $149 and other firms also establishing "buy" ratings.
• Vertiv recently announced a dividend increase to $0.0375, representing a 14.0% yield, a raise from its previous dividend amount of $0.01.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 31.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,906,854 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,214,065 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.29% of Vertiv worth $354,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertiv by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,159 shares of the company's stock worth $2,723,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359,070 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Vertiv by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,314,934 shares of the company's stock worth $263,000,000 after acquiring an additional 812,389 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Vertiv by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,713,234 shares of the company's stock worth $308,251,000 after acquiring an additional 487,909 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 370.7% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 607,384 shares of the company's stock worth $69,005,000 after buying an additional 478,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,173,242 shares of the company's stock worth $133,293,000 after buying an additional 403,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Vertiv Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VRT traded up $3.99 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $143.82. 6,185,424 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,620,705. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $126.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.81, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.74. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a one year low of $53.60 and a one year high of $155.84.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Vertiv's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Sunday. Bank of America upped their price target on Vertiv from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on Vertiv from $130.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Vertiv from $127.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KGI Securities initiated coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Three 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertiv news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,292.33. This trade represents a 82.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.01% of the company's stock.

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.