Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 320,893 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 3,912 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 4.57% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $70,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTS. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 49.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 17,262 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 5,684 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 6,883 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 180.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 10,442 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 6,714 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter worth about $3,124,000. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,953 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on VRTS. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $198.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on 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. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $179.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

Shares of Virtus Investment Partners stock traded up $0.88 on Tuesday, hitting $160.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,002. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $164.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. 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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $201.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Virtus Investment Partners's payout ratio is 53.41%.

Virtus Investment Partners Company 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.