Westpac Banking Corp Has $462,000 Holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp reduced its holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co by 51.8%, now owning 6,401 shares valued at approximately $462,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Vertiv, with Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raising its stake by 3.1% in the last quarter.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Vertiv, with price targets ranging from $144.06 to $165.00 following recent positive earnings reports.

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its position in shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 51.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,401 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,872 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Vertiv were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in Vertiv by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the company's stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 39,300 shares of the company's stock worth $4,465,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 8,798 shares of the company's stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 2,393 shares of the company's stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 20,739 shares of the company's stock worth $1,497,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of the firm'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 directly owned 9,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,292.33. This trade represents a 82.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Melius raised shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. KGI Securities assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Melius Research raised shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertiv has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.06.

Vertiv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VRT opened at $137.57 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $127.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.81. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 1-year low of $53.60 and a 1-year high of $155.84. The stock has a market cap of $52.53 billion, a PE ratio of 65.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.77.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Vertiv had a return on equity of 51.64% and a net margin of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The business's revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

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