Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 70.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,429 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 3,372 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,503,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 276,880 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $61,074,000 after acquiring an additional 21,344 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 33.6% during the 4th 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 8.7% during 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. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 204.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,119 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,957,000 after buying an additional 9,488 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRTS. Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of VRTS traded up $6.86 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $166.96. The stock had a trading volume of 41,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,102. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $163.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.80. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 1.47. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $217.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.41 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Virtus Investment Partners's 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.