New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stake in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,403 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 656 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $1,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 388.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 127 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 395 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 57.2% in the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 610 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of VRTS stock opened at $179.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 11.86 and a quick ratio of 11.86. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.91. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1-year low of $179.40 and a 1-year high of $263.39.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 53.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTS has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $221.00 to $200.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $274.00 to $258.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.75.

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.