Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Down 3% - Should You Sell?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) shares dropped 3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $134.41 and last traded at $136.78. Approximately 4,047,266 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 8,181,185 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRT shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $115.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Vertiv from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $138.50.

Vertiv Stock Down 3.4 %

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 firm has a market cap of $51.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.58. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $107.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.27.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Vertiv had a return on equity of 55.33% and a net margin of 7.72%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.11%. This is an increase from Vertiv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Vertiv's payout ratio is 6.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Vertiv news, insider Karsten Winther sold 44,924 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $843,254.58. This represents a 80.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRT. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Vertiv by 10,825.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company's stock worth $457,695,000 after buying an additional 4,558,306 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the second quarter worth approximately $331,091,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 303.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,777,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,143,000 after acquiring an additional 3,591,903 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Vertiv by 271.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,915,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $389,548,000 after acquiring an additional 2,860,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP grew its position in Vertiv by 215.6% during the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 1,864,426 shares of the company's stock worth $185,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,746 shares in the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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