Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Shares Gap Down to $230.75

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $230.75, but opened at $217.96. Virtus Investment Partners shares last traded at $230.46, with a volume of 1,079 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRTS shares. TD Cowen lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $264.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 1.4 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $235.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 1.52.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $6.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.96 by $0.15. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 15.45%. The company had revenue of $214.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is presently 42.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,649,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 31,620 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,644,000 after buying an additional 17,300 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 106.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,828 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $5,519,000 after purchasing an additional 11,792 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 230.7% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 14,888 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $3,007,000 after buying an additional 10,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 305.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,705 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,803 shares during the last quarter. 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.