AlphaQuest LLC Trims Position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS

AlphaQuest LLC lessened its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 61.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,369 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 5,347 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRTS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,376 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $931,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 55.3% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,035 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after buying an additional 4,999 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,629 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $6,830,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $283,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on VRTS shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $196.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $189.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Up 2.7%

NASDAQ VRTS opened at $170.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a one year low of $142.18 and a one year high of $252.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 1.43.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.08. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The business had revenue of $210.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $2.40 per share. This is a boost from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.28%.

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.