Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Price Target Raised to $152.00 at Morgan Stanley

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) had its price target increased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $149.00 to $152.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 5.11% from the stock’s previous close.

VRTS has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:VRTS traded up $0.69 on Tuesday, hitting $160.19. 8,908 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,019. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $164.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.69. 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 52 week low of $142.18 and a 52 week high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $217.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $5.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners will post 27.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTS. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 2,902.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,423 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 3,309 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,818 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 145,386 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $30,451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,651 shares during the period. Private Client Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $799,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 204.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,119 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,957,000 after purchasing an additional 9,488 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.