920 Shares in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Purchased by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 920 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 171 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 82.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 153 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 1,937.5% in the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 163 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 550.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 182 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 495.4% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 387 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ VRTS opened at $224.91 on Friday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1-year low of $165.00 and a 1-year high of $263.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $235.94 and a 200-day moving average of $220.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.52.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $6.11 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $214.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.