Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Buys 558 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 11.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,376 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTS. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 170.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter worth $249,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter worth $280,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter worth $353,000. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTS has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Shares of VRTS opened at $199.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.44. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.03. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.18 and a 12 month high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.05. The firm 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 quarter last year, the company posted $5.41 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.41%.

About Virtus Investment Partners

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.