Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 1,766 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 59.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,753 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 1,766 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VRTS. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 30.2% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 366 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $280,000. R Squared Ltd raised its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 311.8% during the 1st quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 1,400 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 1st quarter valued at $253,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 1st quarter valued at $283,000. 80.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Virtus Investment Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 target price on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $188.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of VRTS stock traded up $10.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $199.34. 25,149 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 69,380. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.18 and a 1 year high of $252.82. The company's 50 day moving average is $193.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.42. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

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

Virtus Investment Partners 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.