Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 134,349 Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) by 430.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 165,557 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134,349 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vertiv were worth $16,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Vertiv during the second quarter valued at about $331,091,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 303.1% during the 1st 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. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertiv by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,622,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,745,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,784 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Vertiv in the 1st quarter worth approximately $135,987,000. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 247.5% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 674,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,391,000 after purchasing an additional 480,394 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRT shares. UBS Group began coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Vertiv from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Vertiv in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Vertiv from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.40.

Vertiv Price Performance

NYSE VRT opened at $120.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a PE ratio of 81.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.38. Vertiv Holdings Co has a 52-week low of $41.01 and a 52-week high of $130.30.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.08%. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.67%.

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, insider Karsten Winther sold 44,924 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.99, for a total value of $3,593,470.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,542 shares in the company, valued at $843,254.58. The trade was a 80.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.