Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) PT Raised to $224.00 at Morgan Stanley

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $224.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Virtus Investment Partners from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Virtus Investment Partners from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $264.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $225.34 on Wednesday. Virtus Investment Partners has a fifty-two week low of $165.00 and a fifty-two week high of $263.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.17.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $6.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.96 by $0.15. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 15.45%. The business had revenue of $214.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.17 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners will post 27.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is presently 42.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 171 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 82.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 153 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 1,937.5% in the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 163 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 550.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 182 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 495.4% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 387 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.