J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Increases Position in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. by 95.5% in Q1, now owning 30,877 shares valued at approximately $2.23 million.
• Vertiv's stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a consensus price target of $144.06 based on multiple upgrades from various firms.
• The company announced a significant dividend increase, with a yield of 14.0% from its recent payment of $0.0375 per share, compared to the previous dividend of $0.01.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 95.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,877 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,085 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Vertiv were worth $2,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,079 shares of the company's stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 2,748 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 327,293 shares of the company's stock worth $37,184,000 after buying an additional 138,871 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 9,740 shares of the company's stock worth $1,107,000 after buying an additional 3,576 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 187.2% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,668 shares of the company's stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 4th quarter worth $11,400,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRT shares. Roth Mkm started coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Vertiv from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Melius Research upgraded Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,292.33. The trade was a 82.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karsten Winther sold 5,500 shares of Vertiv 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 completion of the transaction, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.01% of the company's stock.

Vertiv Price Performance

Shares of VRT stock traded down $3.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $141.66. The stock had a trading volume of 10,317,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,891,308. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a one year low of $53.60 and a one year 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 1.35. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $122.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.78, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.77.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.12. Vertiv had a return on equity of 51.64% and a net margin of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

Vertiv Company 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.