Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,294 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,679 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,294 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.37% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $22,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 96,081 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $23,229,000 after buying an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,649,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 54,260 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $13,118,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 31,620 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,644,000 after acquiring an additional 17,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 80.2% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 23,506 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $5,825,000 after purchasing an additional 10,461 shares during the period. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of Virtus Investment Partners in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $206.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $250.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $213.00 to $208.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Virtus Investment Partners has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

VRTS opened at $194.99 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $216.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 15.18 and a quick ratio of 15.18. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.78 and a 1 year high of $263.39.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.61 by ($0.08). Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 12.41%. The firm had revenue of $203.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.71 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 25.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. This is an increase from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.22%.

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.