Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) by 1,569.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,723 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 149,216 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertiv were worth $12,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the first quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Vertiv in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vertiv by 79.0% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 571 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In related news, Director Doherty Philip O’ sold 2,511,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.64, for a total transaction of $235,157,663.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,324,181 shares in the company, valued at $873,116,308.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Anders Karlborg sold 46,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.75, for a total value of $4,331,812.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,156,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Doherty Philip O’ sold 2,511,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.64, for a total transaction of $235,157,663.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,324,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,116,308.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,674,034 shares of company stock valued at $354,931,478 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Vertiv Price Performance

VRT traded up $0.64 on Friday, reaching $77.12. The company had a trading volume of 7,834,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,546,067. Vertiv Holdings Co has a one year low of $25.09 and a one year high of $109.27. The company has a market capitalization of $28.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.15, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.90 and a 200-day moving average of $79.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Vertiv had a return on equity of 49.53% and a net margin of 6.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.13%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Vertiv from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Vertiv from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on Vertiv from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Vertiv from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertiv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.56.

Vertiv Company Profile

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.