Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $85.38, but opened at $91.64. Vertiv shares last traded at $92.68, with a volume of 1,611,841 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Melius cut shares of Vertiv from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Vertiv from $132.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Fox Advisors initiated coverage on Vertiv in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Vertiv from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Melius Research reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Vertiv in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.38.

Vertiv Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.78. The firm has a market cap of $36.18 billion, a PE ratio of 74.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. Vertiv had a return on equity of 61.41% and a net margin of 6.19%. The firm 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 firm's revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.0375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio is 8.72%.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora purchased a new position in Vertiv during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its holdings in Vertiv by 4,120.0% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 422 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC increased its stake in Vertiv by 242.0% in the 1st quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 61.3% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 292 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by 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.