Summit Global Investments Boosts Stock Position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,263 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,496 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $1,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 171 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 550.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 182 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $285,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTS traded up $5.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $228.51. 25,173 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 52,495. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12-month low of $165.00 and a 12-month high of $263.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $234.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 1.50.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The closed-end fund reported $5.41 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.41. The firm had revenue of $200.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.54 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 19.68% and a net margin of 14.02%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 26.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.78%.

Virtus Investment Partners Profile

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.