Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 145,826 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,003 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Vertiv were worth $10,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Vertiv by 95.3% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,167,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $135,621,000 after acquiring an additional 569,722 shares during the last quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv in the fourth quarter valued at $415,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Vertiv by 10.5% in the first quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 73,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,324,000 after acquiring an additional 6,989 shares during the last quarter. Gallo Partners LP purchased a new position in Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth $1,826,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth $597,379,000. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertiv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VRT traded up $7.85 during trading on Thursday, hitting $133.25. 2,907,704 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,587,187. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 1 year low of $53.60 and a 1 year high of $155.84. The company has a market cap of $50.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.35, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.75. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $114.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

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

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a $0.0375 dividend. This is an increase from Vertiv's previous dividend of $0.01. This represents a dividend yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv

In other news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,292.33. This represents a 82.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of the company'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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRT. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Vertiv and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $100.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $136.76.

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.