Invesco Ltd. Acquires 1,653 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 5.6%, acquiring an additional 1,653 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 31,427 shares valued at $5.4 million.
• Virtus Investment Partners will pay a quarterly dividend of $2.40 on November 14th, up from $2.25, representing a yield of 4.8% based on an annualized payout of $9.60.
• Analyst price targets for Virtus Investment Partners range widely, with Piper Sandler setting a new high of $234.00 and Morgan Stanley marking a low of $171.00 for the stock.

Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,427 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after buying an additional 1,653 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.45% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $5,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 299,961 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $51,701,000 after acquiring an additional 23,081 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 106,104 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $23,404,000 after purchasing an additional 9,793 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,204,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 8,517.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,894 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 6,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the first quarter worth approximately $1,052,000. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Shares of VRTS stock traded down $3.02 on Tuesday, hitting $198.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 64,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 70,628. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. The stock's 50 day moving average is $197.28 and its 200-day moving average is $179.00. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.18 and a fifty-two week high of $252.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.44.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.17 by $0.08. The firm 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $6.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

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