J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 85.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,332 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,236 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Vertiv were worth $818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Vertiv by 4,120.0% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 422 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 242.0% during the first quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 211.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 315 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Vertiv by 37.5% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 510 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRT. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Melius raised shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of the business's 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,292.33. This represents a 82.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Vertiv Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VRT traded up $6.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $137.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,225,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,826,359. The company has a 50-day moving average of $118.59 and a 200-day moving average of $104.33. 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 1.09, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $52.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.75.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

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.