Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 4,999 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 55.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,035 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 4,999 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.20% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $2,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRTS. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 170.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $280,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $353,000. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTS. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 price target on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of Virtus Investment Partners stock traded up $5.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $202.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 185,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,211. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.18 and a 12 month high of $252.82. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $175.79 and a 200 day moving average of $181.55.

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

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.