Everence Capital Management Inc. Invests $203,000 in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 920 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 2.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 328,067 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $74,092,000 after acquiring an additional 8,393 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 255,536 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $53,522,000 after purchasing an additional 16,586 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 151,328 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,702,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 145,386 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $30,451,000 after buying an additional 3,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 113,892 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $23,670,000 after buying an additional 4,359 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

Shares of Virtus Investment Partners stock opened at $214.48 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $233.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.18. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.42 and a 12-month high of $263.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 1.48. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $274.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $224.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $212.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.00.

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.