StockNews.com Upgrades Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) to Buy

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Separately, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $163.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 30th.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Shares of VRTS stock opened at $193.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 5.66 and a current ratio of 13.10. Virtus Investment Partners has a one year low of $165.00 and a one year high of $248.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 2.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,188,513 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $285,232,000 after purchasing an additional 27,115 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 896,632 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $215,182,000 after acquiring an additional 48,669 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 307,258 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,676,000 after acquiring an additional 20,491 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 284,333 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,134,000 after purchasing an additional 7,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.9% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 183,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $34,864,000 after acquiring an additional 8,542 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.85% 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.