Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Given a $171.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) has been assigned a $171.00 price target by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 14.11% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen cut their price target 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. Piper Sandler cut their price target 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. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $199.10 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $172.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.45. 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 has a one year low of $142.18 and a one year high of $252.82.

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 firm had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $5.41 EPS. Research analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTS. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 170.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 366 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 1st quarter valued at about $93,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

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.