StockNews.com downgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.
Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $198.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $179.25.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Virtus Investment Partners
Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance
Shares of VRTS traded up $3.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $156.68. 50,016 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,102. Virtus Investment Partners has a 52 week low of $142.18 and a 52 week high of $252.82. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $165.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 11.86, a current ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.
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. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The company had revenue of $217.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $201.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.
Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.74%. Virtus Investment Partners's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.41%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter valued at about $283,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 3.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,629 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $6,830,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 55.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,035 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,419,000 after buying an additional 4,999 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 35.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 11.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,376 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Virtus Investment Partners
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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