Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Trading Down 4.4% – Here’s Why

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) shares traded down 4.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $200.00 and last traded at $199.81. 8,857 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 35,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $208.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTS. StockNews.com cut shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $224.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $239.00 to $221.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $274.00 to $258.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 4.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $225.61 and a 200 day moving average of $219.47. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 54.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 388.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 127 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 138.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 317 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter worth $75,000. 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.