Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 8,912,395 shares, a growth of 42.6% from the February 26th total of 6,251,544 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,389,609 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertiv from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vertiv from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Vertiv in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Vertiv from $200.00 to $281.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Vertiv in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.26.

Vertiv Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of VRT stock traded down $1.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $251.07. 5,436,764 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,661,948. Vertiv has a 52-week low of $53.60 and a 52-week high of $282.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 2.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $231.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.07. Vertiv had a return on equity of 49.55% and a net margin of 13.03%.The company had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertiv has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.950-1.010 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.970-6.070 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertiv will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertiv Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Vertiv’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.33%.

Insider Transactions at Vertiv

In other Vertiv news, Director Jan Van Dokkum sold 38,647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.87, for a total transaction of $9,849,960.89. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,371,750. This trade represents a 60.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David M. Cote sold 40,000 shares of Vertiv stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.29, for a total transaction of $10,211,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 22,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,682,244.82. This trade represents a 64.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 489,761 shares of company stock worth $123,356,815 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertiv by 1,560.0% during the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertiv by 58.3% in the 4th quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertiv in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertiv by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 171 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Sankala Group LLC acquired a new stake in Vertiv in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the company’s stock.

About Vertiv

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.