Denali Advisors LLC Invests $1.63 Million in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS

Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 9,004 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,633,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTS. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the second quarter worth $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 14,100.0% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the second quarter worth $31,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 30.2% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 366 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter valued at about $93,000. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $176.58 on Thursday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.18 and a 1-year high of $252.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $192.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.31. The company has a current ratio of 11.86, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.43.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $210.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $2.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is currently 46.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VRTS shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price 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.