Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 38.5% during Q1, owning approximately 1.63% of the firm valued at $19.5 million.
• Virtus Investment Partners announced a quarterly dividend of $2.40 per share, up from the previous $2.25, yielding 4.8%.
• The company's latest earnings report showed $6.25 EPS, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $210.53 million surpassing expectations of $191.90 million.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 38.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,192 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 31,454 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.63% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $19,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 366 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter valued at $219,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter valued at $280,000. R Squared Ltd increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 311.8% in the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 1,400 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter valued at $253,000. 80.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VRTS. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Virtus Investment Partners has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $188.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of VRTS traded up $0.76 on Friday, hitting $201.30. 82,527 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 70,667. The company has a quick ratio of 11.86, a current ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50 day moving average is $196.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.83. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.18 and a 1 year high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $210.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.90 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.40 per share. This represents a $9.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from Virtus Investment Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Virtus Investment Partners's payout ratio is currently 46.74%.

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.