Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target 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. Piper Sandler cut their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. 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 assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Virtus Investment Partners stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $176.80. 34,312 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,570. Virtus Investment Partners has a 52 week low of $142.18 and a 52 week high of $252.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.42.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.05. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%. The company had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 299,961 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $51,701,000 after purchasing an additional 23,081 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 158,028 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $34,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,642 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 113,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $19,510,000 after acquiring an additional 31,454 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 107,639 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $18,553,000 after buying an additional 1,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,674 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $16,318,000 after buying an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.