Man Group plc Grows Position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,390 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.42% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $6,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRTS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter worth $9,503,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 33.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 20,544 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,124,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 158,028 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $34,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,642 shares during the period. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Shares of VRTS opened at $176.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.47. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.18 and a 1 year high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.99 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.41 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is presently 53.41%.

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.