Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Vertiv (NYSE:VRT)

Key Points

• Unusually high bearish options activity: Investors purchased 44,956 put options on Vertiv, 27% above its typical daily volume.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: Vertiv has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $348.54, despite Citigroup reducing its target to $358.
• Strong growth but elevated valuation: Quarterly EPS beat estimates and revenue rose 24.1% year over year, while the stock traded near $287.81 at a P/E ratio of about 65, increasing sensitivity to execution and guidance.

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 44,956 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 27% compared to the typical daily volume of 35,270 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Vertiv from $414.00 to $358.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $375.00 target price on Vertiv in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Vertiv from $347.00 to $387.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $368.00 price objective on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $348.54.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertiv

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,694,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,408,661,000 after purchasing an additional 235,577 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,065,912 shares of the company's stock worth $1,141,723,000 after purchasing an additional 143,821 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Vertiv by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,974,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $967,881,000 after buying an additional 121,618 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vertiv during the 4th quarter valued at about $808,701,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Vertiv by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,811,745 shares of the company's stock valued at $455,531,000 after buying an additional 97,141 shares during the period. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Vertiv News

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertiv this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertiv’s AI-related growth story remains the primary bullish catalyst. Rising server-rack density is increasing demand for the company’s power-management and cooling systems, while capacity expansion and advanced technologies position Vertiv to benefit from accelerating AI and high-performance-computing data-center construction. Vertiv Capitalizes on Strong AI Data Center Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Recent developments reinforce the growth outlook: Vertiv raised its third-quarter and full-year 2026 guidance after reporting year-over-year revenue and net-income growth, completed a roughly $600 million share-repurchase program, and announced an AI/HPC data-center collaboration with Bitzero Holdings. The company also plans to present at the OCP APAC Summit. Stronger Results, AI Deals, and Buybacks Could Be a Game Changer for Vertiv
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative screens continue to favor VRT as a high-growth company, citing above-market financial growth, strong interest-coverage metrics, and a Zacks Rank of Strong Buy. These signals may support demand from growth-oriented investors. Reasons Growth Investors Will Love Vertiv
• Neutral Sentiment: Vertiv recently exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, although revenue fell short of consensus. The stock’s valuation remains elevated, with a P/E near 65, making it more sensitive to execution and guidance changes.
• Negative Sentiment: Two law firms—SBS and Pomerantz—have announced investigations into whether Vertiv made false or misleading statements or failed to disclose material information. The announcements do not establish wrongdoing, but they increase headline, litigation, and reputational risk for investors. SBS Vertiv Fraud Investigation Pomerantz Vertiv Investor Alert

Vertiv Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE VRT traded up $6.00 on Wednesday, reaching $287.81. The company had a trading volume of 3,959,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,780,900. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.80 billion, a PE ratio of 65.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.06. Vertiv has a 1 year low of $118.70 and a 1 year high of $379.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $298.72 and a 200-day moving average of $282.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. Vertiv had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 50.47%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Vertiv has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.770-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.650-6.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertiv will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Vertiv's dividend payout ratio is 5.66%.

Vertiv Company Profile

Vertiv is a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions for data centers, communication networks and commercial and industrial environments. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the company designs, manufactures and services equipment and software that support power availability, thermal management and IT infrastructure management for a broad set of end markets, including hyperscale and enterprise data centers, colocation providers, telecom operators and industrial customers.

The company's product portfolio includes uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), power distribution units (PDUs), battery and DC power systems, precision cooling and thermal management equipment, racks and enclosures, and integrated modular infrastructure.

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