Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $110.46, but opened at $115.95. Vertiv shares last traded at $114.07, with a volume of 2,527,854 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRT. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Melius cut Vertiv from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertiv has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.36.

Vertiv Stock Performance

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $126.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.69 billion, a PE ratio of 75.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.63.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.0375 dividend. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Vertiv's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 19,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,751,114.08. The trade was a 61.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,562,549.57. The trade was a 81.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682 in the last ninety days. 5.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora acquired a new stake in Vertiv during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vertiv during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertiv in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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