Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Down 2.2% - Here's What Happened

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) shares were down 2.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $113.39 and last traded at $113.61. Approximately 3,427,458 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 7,981,975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VRT shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.09.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $122.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.61.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.98 billion. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. The business's revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This is a positive change from Vertiv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv's payout ratio is 6.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total transaction of $2,108,370.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $470,526.50. The trade was a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total value of $4,373,094.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,751,114.08. The trade was a 61.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRT. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertiv by 430.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 165,557 shares of the company's stock worth $16,471,000 after buying an additional 134,349 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Vertiv by 31.6% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 843,058 shares of the company's stock worth $83,876,000 after buying an additional 202,576 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 18.6% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv in the third quarter worth $8,798,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Vertiv in the 3rd quarter worth about $584,000. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vertiv

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.