Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Shares Sold by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lessened its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 44.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,846 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 48,583 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned 0.88% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $13,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 9,488 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 2.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 145,386 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $30,451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,651 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Private Client Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $799,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $375,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VRTS. StockNews.com cut Virtus Investment Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 0.5 %

Virtus Investment Partners stock traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $165.61. 18,614 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,018. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 11.86, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.80. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.18 and a 12-month high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 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 analyst estimates of $201.99 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.41 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Virtus Investment Partners's payout ratio is currently 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.