Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTSFree Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on VRTS. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Virtus Investment Partners in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $206.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $208.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $233.50.

Read Our Latest Report on Virtus Investment Partners

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 0.6 %

VRTS opened at $242.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $212.71 and a 200-day moving average of $218.77. Virtus Investment Partners has a 52 week low of $190.42 and a 52 week high of $263.39. The company has a quick ratio of 15.18, a current ratio of 15.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is a boost from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is currently 54.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 6,550.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 133 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 625.6% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 312 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtus Investment Partners Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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