Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Trading Down 3.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares fell 3.4% on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $85.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vertiv traded as low as $66.95 and last traded at $70.36. Approximately 3,772,126 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 8,981,050 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.82.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Vertiv from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Vertiv in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays decreased their price target on Vertiv from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Fox Advisors began coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.50.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertiv by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,999,000 after acquiring an additional 6,564 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 43.4% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Vertiv by 12.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $777,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Vertiv by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 18,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 7,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $90.00 and a 200-day moving average of $109.72.

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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.0375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Vertiv’s payout ratio is 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.