Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $203.56, but opened at $216.58. Vertiv shares last traded at $215.3130, with a volume of 1,201,919 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $331.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Vertiv from $337.00 to $323.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Vertiv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $375.00 price target on Vertiv in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertiv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $335.67.

Vertiv Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $81.97 billion, a PE ratio of 48.35, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $252.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.42.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.09. Vertiv had a net margin of 15.09% and a return on equity of 50.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Vertiv’s revenue was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co. will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th were paid a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 14th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Vertiv’s payout ratio is 5.66%.

Insider Activity at Vertiv

In related news, Director Edward Monser sold 15,287 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.82, for a total value of $3,880,146.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,188,030. The trade was a 48.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertiv

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SFE Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 1.1% in the first quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 3,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Vertiv by 3.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in Vertiv by 6.9% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 542 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC increased its holdings in Vertiv by 41.4% in the first quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 123 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pincus Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Vertiv by 0.8% in the first quarter. Pincus Capital Management LP now owns 4,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 89.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Vertiv

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE: VRT) designs, manufactures and services critical digital infrastructure that supports data centers, communication networks and other facilities requiring reliable power and environmental control. Its solutions are used by cloud and colocation providers, telecommunications companies, enterprises, industrial organizations and edge-computing operators.

The company’s offerings include uninterruptible power supplies, power distribution and management systems, thermal-management and cooling equipment, integrated racks and enclosures, modular infrastructure, and monitoring and control software.