Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Down 5.3% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Vertiv Holdings Co. shares dropped by 5.3% during trading, with the stock closing at $127.11 after hitting a low of $126.35.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Vertiv, with two strong buy ratings, eighteen buy ratings, and a consensus price target of $142.00.
• The company recently raised its dividend from $0.01 to $0.0375 per share, representing a yield of 14.0%.

Shares of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) traded down 5.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $126.35 and last traded at $127.11. 2,323,474 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 9,078,093 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays set a $128.00 target price on shares of Vertiv and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Vertiv from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Melius Research upgraded shares of Vertiv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vertiv to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertiv currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.00.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $130.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.99 billion, a PE ratio of 61.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.77.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Vertiv had a net margin of 8.93% and a return on equity of 51.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. Vertiv has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.940-1.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Vertiv Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.0375 per share. This is an increase from Vertiv's previous dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a yield of 14.0%. Vertiv's payout ratio is 7.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 43,683 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.83, for a total transaction of $5,059,801.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,292.33. The trade was a 82.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Vertiv stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.34, for a total transaction of $2,829,240.12. Following the sale, the insider 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 208,955 shares of company stock valued at $26,477,307. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRT. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 0.9% during the second quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 8,804 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Presidio Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 1.3% during the second quarter. Presidio Capital Management LLC now owns 6,010 shares of the company's stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 4.0% during the second quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 2,218 shares of the company's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Grandview Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 2.8% during the second quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 3,536 shares of the company's stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Vertiv by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 89.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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