Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 1,290 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,629 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.57% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $6,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRTS. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 55.3% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,035 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 4,999 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,376 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $931,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,204,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,640 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $182.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTS traded down $2.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $207.61. The company had a trading volume of 64,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,733. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.75. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.18 and a fifty-two week high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.05. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The company had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.41 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio is 53.41%.

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.