Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,456 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 6,232 shares during the quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC owned 0.36% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $5,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 395 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Up 0.5 %

VRTS opened at $160.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $199.15. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.18 and a 52 week high of $252.82. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $217.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.99 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.61%. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VRTS shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.75.

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.