Meeder Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. by 14.5%, now holding 77,110 shares valued at approximately $5.57 million.
• Several institutional investors, including CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC, significantly increased their stakes in Vertiv, indicating strong interest in the company's stock.
• Analysts have generally positive forecasts for Vertiv, with recent upgrades pushing the stock's price target to as high as $165.00, reflecting a consensus recommendation of "Buy."

Meeder Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 14.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,110 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,050 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Vertiv were worth $5,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in Vertiv by 242.0% during the 1st quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in Vertiv by 211.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Vertiv in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VRT shares. Oppenheimer set a $151.00 target price on Vertiv and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Vertiv from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.06.

Vertiv Stock Performance

NYSE VRT traded down $4.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $141.53. The stock had a trading volume of 7,001,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,519,506. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 52-week low of $53.60 and a 52-week high of $155.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $53.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $121.71 and a 200 day moving average of $104.78.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.12. Vertiv had a net margin of 8.93% and a return on equity of 56.24%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In other news, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was 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 $1,777,837.51. This represents a 22.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $1,106,292.33. This represents 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.