Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $111.00 to $100.00. The stock had previously closed at $91.58, but opened at $85.70. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Vertiv shares last traded at $82.90, with a volume of 4,181,985 shares trading hands.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on VRT. Fox Advisors initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Vertiv from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Four 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.com, Vertiv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Vertiv in the 4th quarter valued at $597,379,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv during the 4th quarter valued at about $391,777,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertiv by 68.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,754,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153,932 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 271.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,915,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,548,000 after purchasing an additional 2,860,181 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Vertiv by 136.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,336,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928,275 shares during the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertiv Stock Down 6.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $29.11 billion, a PE ratio of 59.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.71. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.23.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.15. Vertiv had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 61.41%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.0375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.72%.

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.