New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,355 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $1,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC increased 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 buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 82.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 153 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,353 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 953 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $219.47 on Wednesday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.00 and a 12 month high of $263.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $236.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.00. The company has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 1.52.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $6.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.96 by $0.15. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The firm had revenue of $214.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 26.89 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is currently 42.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on VRTS shares. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $264.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $170.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th.

Virtus Investment Partners Company 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.