Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Price Target Lowered to $149.00 at Barclays

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) had its price target cut by Barclays from $200.00 to $149.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $252.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTS opened at $147.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $205.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 11.86 and a quick ratio of 11.86. Virtus Investment Partners has a 1 year low of $144.13 and a 1 year high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.11%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 53.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,503,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 276,880 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $61,074,000 after acquiring an additional 21,344 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 81,738 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $18,030,000 after purchasing an additional 20,544 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,124,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 158,028 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $34,858,000 after buying an additional 12,642 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.