Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) by 430.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,557 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 134,349 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Vertiv were worth $16,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 5.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,622,257 shares of the company's stock worth $2,745,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,784 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Vertiv by 303.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,777,057 shares of the company's stock worth $390,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,591,903 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the second quarter worth about $331,091,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Vertiv by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,002,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,189,000 after acquiring an additional 451,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Vertiv by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,553,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,013,000 after acquiring an additional 340,639 shares in the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Vertiv from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertiv currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $125.40.

Vertiv Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of VRT stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $120.87. 6,154,995 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,172,390. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $105.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.67. Vertiv Holdings Co has a 12-month low of $41.01 and a 12-month high of $130.30. The stock has a market cap of $45.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.57, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.58. 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 (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a $0.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.08%. Vertiv's payout ratio is currently 6.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karsten Winther sold 44,924 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.99, for a total value of $3,593,470.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,542 shares in the company, valued at $843,254.58. The trade was a 80.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.