Magnetar Financial LLC Grows Holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Magnetar Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 42.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,767 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 530 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRTS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 276,880 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $61,074,000 after purchasing an additional 21,344 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 12.4% during the third quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 110,429 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $23,129,000 after purchasing an additional 12,193 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 57.1% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 26,167 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $5,481,000 after purchasing an additional 9,508 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 204.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,119 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,957,000 after purchasing an additional 9,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 592.0% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 9,218 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 7,886 shares during the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VRTS shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $274.00 to $258.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $221.00 to $200.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

Shares of VRTS opened at $174.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.49. 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 one year low of $167.13 and a one year high of $263.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $190.08 and its 200-day moving average is $210.86.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.25%.

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.