TLDR
- Vertiv stock fell 3.1% to $241.91 on Friday, with intraday low of $238.65 and volume up 33% above average
- Despite the drop, analysts remain bullish — RBC raised its target to $266, Mizuho to $290, and Roth MKM to $275
- Q4 earnings beat estimates: EPS of $1.36 vs. $1.29 expected, with revenue up 22.7% year-over-year
- Insiders sold ~412,467 shares worth ~$104.4M over the past 90 days
- The board approved a quarterly dividend of $0.0625 per Class A share, payable March 26
Vertiv (VRT) stock slipped 3.1% on Friday, closing at $241.91 after hitting an intraday low of $238.65. The prior close was $249.75.
Volume told an interesting story. Around 8.07 million shares changed hands — up 33% from the average daily volume of roughly 6.05 million. That kind of elevated volume on a down day can point to some real selling pressure, not just noise.
The move came despite Vertiv’s board approving a quarterly cash dividend of $0.0625 per Class A share. The dividend is payable March 26 to shareholders of record as of March 17.
That dividend signal usually reflects management confidence in cash generation. The stock’s year-to-date performance still sits at an impressive 54.16%, so this pullback is coming off a high base.
On the fundamentals side, there’s not much to complain about. Vertiv reported Q4 earnings on February 11, posting EPS of $1.36 — beating analyst consensus of $1.29 by $0.07.
Revenue came in at $2.88 billion for the quarter, just a touch below the $2.89 billion estimate, but still up 22.7% compared to the same period last year. A year ago, EPS was $0.99, so the improvement is hard to argue with.
For the year ahead, Vertiv set Q1 2026 EPS guidance at $0.950–$1.010, and FY 2026 guidance at $5.970–$6.070. Analysts on average expect $3.59 EPS for the current year.
Analyst Targets Remain High
Wall Street didn’t flinch. Following the February earnings report, Mizuho lifted its price target from $198 to $290 with an “outperform” rating. Royal Bank of Canada moved its target from $200 to $266, also “outperform.” Roth MKM reissued a “buy” with a $275 target.
Weiss Ratings upgraded VRT from “hold” to “buy” on February 13. Wolfe Research was the outlier, cutting from “outperform” to “peer perform” back in December.
Overall, MarketBeat data shows 1 strong buy, 19 buy, 2 hold, and 1 sell rating — an average of “Moderate Buy” with a mean target of $230.28.
Insider Selling Raises Eyebrows
The insider activity is harder to ignore. Over the past 90 days, insiders sold 412,467 shares valued at roughly $104.4 million.
Director Roger Fradin sold 101,666 shares on February 27 at an average of $252.13, totalling over $25.6 million. EVP Anders Karlborg sold 30,487 shares on February 26 at $246.92 — a 46.74% cut in his ownership stake.
Insiders now hold 2.63% of the company, with institutional investors owning 89.92%.
The stock carries a market cap of $92.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.94, and a beta of 2.02. The 50-day moving average sits at $201.78, and the 200-day at $174.70. The current price remains well above both.
As of Friday, the technical sentiment signal still reads “buy.”
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