Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VRTS. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $239.00 to $221.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $274.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $224.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $242.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $209.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.38. Virtus Investment Partners has a twelve month low of $190.42 and a twelve month high of $263.39. The company has a current ratio of 11.86, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 1.48.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.71%.

Institutional Trading of Virtus Investment Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 388.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 127 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the second quarter valued at $42,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 138.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 317 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 610 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Virtus Investment Partners Company Profile

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to individual and institutional clients. It launches separate client focused equity and fixed income portfolios. The firm launches equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds for its clients.