Analysts Set Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) PT at $186.25

Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) have been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $185.00.

VRTS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $175.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $173.00 to $168.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $196.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRTS. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 14,100.0% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the second quarter worth about $31,000. NBT Bank N A NY grew its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 1,483.3% in the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 90.4% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 316 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $164.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $166.94 and a 200 day moving average of $183.03. 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 has a 1-year low of $142.18 and a 1-year high of $236.12.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 31st will be paid a $2.40 dividend. This represents a $9.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 49.28%.

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.