Philadelphia Trust Co. Reduces Position in Vertiv Holdings Co. $VRT

Key Points

• Philadelphia Trust Co. significantly decreased its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. by 59.8% in Q1, now owning 136,166 shares valued at approximately $9.83 million.
• Vertiv reported better-than-expected earnings, posting $0.95 EPS for the quarter, surpassing estimates by $0.12, and achieving revenue of $2.64 billion, up 35.1% year-over-year.
• The company recently increased its dividend from $0.01 to $0.0375 per share, reflecting a yield of 14.0% and a payout ratio of 7.18%.

Philadelphia Trust Co. cut its holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 59.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 136,166 shares of the company's stock after selling 202,230 shares during the quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co.'s holdings in Vertiv were worth $9,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Vertiv during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its position in Vertiv by 4,120.0% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 422 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In other news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,292.33. This represents a 82.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Karsten Winther sold 41,654 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.21, for a total value of $5,590,383.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 18,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,590.08. The trade was a 68.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Vertiv from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded Vertiv to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Vertiv from $127.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Vertiv from $135.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertiv has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.06.

Vertiv Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of VRT traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.86. The company had a trading volume of 6,204,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,803,008. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $128.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.77. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 1 year low of $53.60 and a 1 year high of $155.84.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.36 billion. Vertiv had a return on equity of 51.64% and a net margin of 8.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from Vertiv's previous dividend of $0.01. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.18%.

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.