Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Shares Sold by City Center Advisors LLC

City Center Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 12.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,229 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. City Center Advisors LLC’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,300 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 170.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 29,390 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $6,483,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 395 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on VRTS. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of VRTS opened at $170.68 on Monday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.18 and a 52-week high of $252.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.07. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.99 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.41%.

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.