Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on VRTS. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $212.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $208.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $244.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

Shares of VRTS stock opened at $220.92 on Monday. Virtus Investment Partners has a fifty-two week low of $190.42 and a fifty-two week high of $263.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.11.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 2.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 328,067 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $74,092,000 after acquiring an additional 8,393 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 255,536 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $53,522,000 after buying an additional 16,586 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 151,328 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $31,702,000 after buying an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 113,892 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $23,670,000 after acquiring an additional 4,359 shares during the period. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 110,429 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $23,129,000 after acquiring an additional 12,193 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.