VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys 8,600 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,600 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $151,624,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 305,115 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,990,000 after acquiring an additional 7,987 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,962 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $11,188,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the second quarter valued at about $10,148,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 38.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 52,930 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,111,000 after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRTS. Zacks Research lowered shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $155.00 to $136.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $135.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $172.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $129.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Virtus Investment Partners stock opened at $128.85 on Thursday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.71 and a 1-year high of $175.66. 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 $853.35 million, a PE ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.60.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This is an increase from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.40. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.6%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is currently 55.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtus Investment Partners

In related news, Director W. Morris sold 435 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.59, for a total value of $60,286.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

About Virtus Investment Partners

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc is an asset management company that provides investment products and services to individual and institutional investors. The company operates as a multi-boutique investment firm, partnering with affiliated and unaffiliated investment managers that offer specialized expertise across a range of asset classes and investment strategies.

Virtus distributes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, closed-end funds and other investment solutions.