Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS Shares Acquired by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 107,639 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 1,535 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.55% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $18,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Man Group plc grew its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 29,390 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $6,483,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 4.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 4,057 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 0.9% during the 4th 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 period. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

VRTS stock traded up $3.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $196.31. The stock had a trading volume of 84,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 71,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 11.86 and a quick ratio of 11.86. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.18 and a twelve month high of $252.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 1.44. The company's 50-day moving average price is $197.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.10.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.08. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%.The company had revenue of $210.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $191.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $2.40 dividend. This represents a $9.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. 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 presently 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.