Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Stake Trimmed by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lowered its stake in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 58.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 584 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 825 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 230.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 14,888 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $3,007,000 after acquiring an additional 10,386 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 106.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,828 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $5,519,000 after acquiring an additional 11,792 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,366 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $19,061,000 after acquiring an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,043 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Shares of VRTS stock opened at $218.58 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.99. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a twelve month low of $165.00 and a twelve month high of $263.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 1.52.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $6.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.96 by $0.15. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 15.45%. The business had revenue of $214.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.20 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 26.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 42.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRTS shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $285.00 to $264.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $170.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th.

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.