Blankinship & Foster LLC Invests $8.80 Million in Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)

Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new position in Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 88,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,798,000. Vertiv makes up about 1.4% of Blankinship & Foster LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertiv by 10,825.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $457,695,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558,306 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the second quarter valued at $331,091,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Vertiv by 271.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,915,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $389,548,000 after purchasing an additional 2,860,181 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 215.6% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 1,864,426 shares of the company's stock worth $185,492,000 after buying an additional 1,273,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the 3rd quarter worth about $110,517,000. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on VRT shares. UBS Group began coverage on Vertiv in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Vertiv from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertiv presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total transaction of $11,353,152.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,562,549.57. This represents a 81.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jan Van Dokkum sold 38,647 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.39, for a total transaction of $5,271,064.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,409,750. The trade was a 60.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682. Corporate insiders own 5.01% of the company's stock.

Vertiv Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:VRT traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $125.07. The stock had a trading volume of 3,253,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,117,598. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $119.59 and a 200 day moving average of $97.88. The company has a market capitalization of $46.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.66, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.61. Vertiv Holdings Co has a one year low of $44.31 and a one year high of $145.67.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.98 billion. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. The company's revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.12%. This is a positive change from Vertiv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.67%.

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.