Evercore ISI Has Lowered Expectations for Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Stock Price

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) had its price objective cut by Evercore ISI from $150.00 to $145.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Fox Advisors assumed coverage on Vertiv in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an "equal weight" rating for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $141.75.

Vertiv Stock Performance

Shares of Vertiv stock traded up $3.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $135.94. 4,912,411 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,951,582. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.63, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.63. Vertiv has a 12-month low of $49.67 and a 12-month high of $145.67.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertiv will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.0375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a boost from Vertiv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.11%. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total transaction of $11,353,152.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at $2,562,549.57. The trade was a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $470,526.50. The trade was a 81.75 % 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 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertiv by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the company's stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 25.1% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 458 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Vertiv by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 638 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertiv by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 13,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Bouvel Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Vertiv by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,097 shares of the company's stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently 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.