Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $142.00 to $131.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on VRT. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Melius Research reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.57.

Vertiv Price Performance

VRT traded down $1.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $108.18. The stock had a trading volume of 7,151,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,545,410. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. Vertiv has a 1-year low of $55.00 and a 1-year high of $155.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.58.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.15. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertiv will post 2.7 EPS 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 issued a $0.0375 dividend. This is a positive change from Vertiv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Vertiv's payout ratio is 6.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,751,114.08. This represents a 61.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,526.50. The trade was a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.01% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertiv Company 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.