Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. has increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 38.8%, acquiring an additional 3,381 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 12,103 shares valued at $2,086,000.
• Several other institutional investors have also boosted their stakes, with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas leading at a 55.3% increase, reflecting strong institutional interest in the company.
• Virtus Investment Partners announced a quarterly dividend of $2.40 per share, up from the previous $2.25, with a 4.9% dividend yield for investors.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 38.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,103 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after buying an additional 3,381 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.17% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $2,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 11.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,376 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 55.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,035 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 4,999 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 35.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.1% in the fourth 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,814 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VRTS. Wall Street Zen upgraded Virtus Investment Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays lifted 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. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $188.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

Shares of VRTS stock opened at $197.9210 on Tuesday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.18 and a fifty-two week high of $252.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.41. 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 simple moving average is $194.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.32.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $210.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.40 per share. This represents a $9.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 46.74%.

Virtus Investment Partners Company 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.

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