Piper Sandler Cuts Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Price Target to $258.00

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) had its price objective lowered by Piper Sandler from $274.00 to $258.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on VRTS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $224.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $239.00 to $221.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ VRTS opened at $210.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.48. Virtus Investment Partners has a 12 month low of $190.42 and a 12 month high of $263.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $228.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.10. The company has a current ratio of 11.86, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 8,393 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 6.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 16,586 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 151,328 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $31,702,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 2.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 145,386 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $30,451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.0% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 113,892 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $23,670,000 after purchasing an additional 4,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

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.