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

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertiv by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Vertiv by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertiv by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 13,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertiv by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 10,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertiv by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 14,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anand Sanghi sold 30,914 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.46, for a total transaction of $4,373,094.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,751,114.08. This trade represents a 61.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total value of $2,108,370.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,526.50. The trade was a 81.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock worth $23,105,682. Company insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Vertiv from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on Vertiv from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Vertiv in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertiv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.09.

Vertiv Stock Performance

VRT stock opened at $115.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.77. Vertiv Holdings Co has a twelve month low of $44.31 and a twelve month high of $145.67. The firm has a market cap of $43.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.74, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.61.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last released its 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 last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

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

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.