Barclays PLC Increases Stock Holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,304 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $3,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 12,395 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,734,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 29,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $6,568,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Gator Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 20,915 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $4,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,590 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $280,000. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 322.8% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 11,736 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 8,960 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

VRTS opened at $154.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $167.33 and a 200 day moving average of $201.91. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.18 and a fifty-two week high of $252.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.99 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.83%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 53.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VRTS shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.25.

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.