GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stake in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 8,517.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,894 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after buying an additional 6,814 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.10% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $1,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRTS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 276,880 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $61,074,000 after buying an additional 21,344 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 106,104 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $23,404,000 after purchasing an additional 9,793 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 81,738 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $18,030,000 after purchasing an additional 20,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 71,600 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $15,794,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VRTS shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Cowen dropped 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 report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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. 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. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

VRTS stock traded up $1.19 during trading on Monday, hitting $174.76. The stock had a trading volume of 107,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,694. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.45. 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $163.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.64. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.18 and a 1-year high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS 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. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.41%.

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.