Seizert Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 1,467 Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Key Points

• Seizert Capital Partners LLC has acquired 1,467 shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. for approximately $253,000, reflecting growing interest from institutional investors in the firm.
• Virtus Investment Partners recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.25, representing an annual yield of 4.51%, with a payout ratio of 43.82%.
• The company's stock price recently opened at $199.51, showing a 12-month range between a low of $142.18 and a high of $252.82.

Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,467 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,689 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $353,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 44.6% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 16,124 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $3,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,970 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $249,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 158,028 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $34,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,642 shares during the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTS has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Virtus Investment Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 price objective on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $188.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTS traded down $3.40 on Friday, hitting $189.91. 60,387 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 70,247. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 11.86 and a quick ratio of 11.86. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $186.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.13. 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 cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.44.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.53 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.82%.

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.