Marshall Wace LLP Has $2.30 Million Stock Position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 180.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,442 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 6,714 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.15% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $2,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 170.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter worth $75,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 395 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRTS shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $198.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $179.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ VRTS traded up $2.42 on Friday, reaching $158.90. The company had a trading volume of 4,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,963. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.36. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.18 and a fifty-two week high of $252.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $165.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 11.86 and a quick ratio of 11.86.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.05. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%. 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 company earned $5.41 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.66%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. 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.