Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS Shares Sold by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC reduced its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 72%, selling 4,349 shares, leaving it with only 1,693 shares valued at $292,000.
• Virtus Investment Partners recently reported earnings of $6.25 per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $6.17, with a revenue of $210.53 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $2.40 per share, reflecting a 4.8% annual yield and raising its annual dividend payout to $9.60.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 72.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,693 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 4,349 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC's holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 9,872 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 24,921 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $5,497,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,246 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $6,672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 7,802 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,721,000 after acquiring an additional 2,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,849 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on VRTS. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $188.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTS traded down $2.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $191.15. 66,550 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 70,538. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.18 and a twelve month high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.17 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $210.53 million during 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 last year, the firm earned $6.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from Virtus Investment Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio is 46.74%.

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.