Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS Shares Sold by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd trimmed its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 20.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,120 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 11.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,376 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 55.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,035 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after buying an additional 4,999 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 35.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $330,000. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $253,000. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

Virtus Investment Partners stock opened at $166.69 on Friday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.18 and a 12 month high of $252.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 11.86 and a quick ratio of 11.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 1.43.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.08. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%.The business had revenue of $210.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.40 per share. This represents a $9.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. This is a boost from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRTS. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $184.25.

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.