Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price Up 1.6% – Time to Buy?

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)’s share price traded up 1.6% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $214.38 and last traded at $209.7810. Approximately 5,761,916 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 6,578,146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $206.51.

Trending Headlines about Vertiv

Here are a few of the latest headlines about VRT:

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein initiated a Buy rating on Vertiv, adding an upbeat analyst view amid investor focus on the company’s AI data-center growth prospects. Bernstein rating
• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis argued that concerns about Vertiv are overblown, pointing to strong growth prospects and an attractive valuation. This supports the bullish case, though it is an opinion piece rather than a company announcement. Seeking Alpha bullish analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Another Seeking Alpha article acknowledged Vertiv’s good quarter but characterized its share-price chart as badly damaged and said the author would wait for a potential $150 entry. That cautious stance underscores lingering technical weakness and investor concerns despite the company’s operating performance. Seeking Alpha cautious analysis

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VRT. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Vertiv from $352.00 to $301.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vertiv from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Robert W. Baird set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Vertiv and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $360.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Vertiv from $500.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertiv presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.70.

Vertiv Trading Up 1.6%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $80.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 2.11.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.39. Vertiv had a return on equity of 53.31% and a net margin of 15.99%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 61.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th were issued a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 14th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Edward Monser sold 15,287 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.82, for a total value of $3,880,146.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,188,030. The trade was a 48.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 6,110.5% during the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 114,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,605,000 after acquiring an additional 112,555 shares during the period. NFSG Corp raised its stake in Vertiv by 325.4% during the 3rd quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 8,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,168,000 after acquiring an additional 6,872 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Vertiv by 536.3% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 76,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,134,000 after acquiring an additional 64,358 shares during the period. N10 Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 34.2% during the third quarter. N10 Wealth LLC now owns 80,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,497,000 after purchasing an additional 20,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LDR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 111.5% during the third quarter. LDR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 7,248 shares in the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vertiv

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT) designs, manufactures and services critical digital infrastructure used by data centers, communications networks and commercial and industrial facilities. Its offerings help customers maintain reliable power, cooling and operating conditions for technology systems. The company’s products and solutions include uninterruptible power supplies, power distribution equipment, thermal management systems, racks, integrated modular infrastructure, and monitoring and control software.