American Century Companies Inc. Has $13.71 Million Stock Holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 2.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 60,680 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,568 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $13,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $479,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 183.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,287 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,359 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 2.3% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 2nd quarter worth about $429,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at about $164,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Down 1.3 %

Virtus Investment Partners stock opened at $207.21 on Friday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.78 and a fifty-two week high of $263.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 15.18 and a quick ratio of 15.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.22.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.71 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 25.8 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. This is a boost from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is presently 54.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRTS. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $213.00 to $208.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler dropped 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 report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on Virtus Investment Partners in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $206.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $250.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.25.

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.