3,100 Shares in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Acquired by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $700,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 6,550.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 133 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 221 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 1st quarter valued at $57,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 625.6% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 312 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 334.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 382 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $250.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $213.00 to $208.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $267.00 to $264.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTS traded down $2.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $214.64. The stock had a trading volume of 37,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,936. The company has a quick ratio of 6.36, a current ratio of 15.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.78 and a 12-month high of $263.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.07.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $6.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.61 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $203.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.71 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 12.41%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 25.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a positive change from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 45.78%.

Virtus Investment Partners 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.