Ascent Group LLC Takes Position in Vertiv Holdings Co. $VRT

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC acquired 8,529 shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. for around $616,000 in the first quarter, highlighting increased institutional interest in the company.
• Analyst ratings for Vertiv fluctuate, with Citigroup and Royal Bank of Canada raising price targets, while the stock currently holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Vertiv's revenue surged by 35.1% year-over-year with earnings per share surpassing expectations, demonstrating strong financial performance amidst market conditions.

Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 1st quarter valued at $2,868,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 1st quarter valued at $8,801,000. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 1st quarter valued at $1,943,000. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,496,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,416,000 after acquiring an additional 572,545 shares during the period. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRT. Rothschild Redb raised Vertiv to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Melius Research raised Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.00.

Vertiv Stock Performance

Vertiv stock traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $134.90. 4,063,625 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,334,653. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $131.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.78. Vertiv Holdings Co. has a 1 year low of $53.60 and a 1 year high of $155.84.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Vertiv had a return on equity of 51.64% and a net margin of 8.93%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. Vertiv has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.940-1.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Vertiv's payout ratio is presently 7.18%.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In other news, Director Steven Reinemund sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.22, for a total value of $12,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 133,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,095,957.26. The trade was a 42.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Ryan sold 22,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.34, for a total value of $2,829,240.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,630,334.02. This trade represents a 63.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 180,952 shares of company stock worth $23,360,571 in the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.