Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Price Target Increased to $224.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $224.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 1.91% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $285.00 to $264.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTS opened at $219.80 on Wednesday. Virtus Investment Partners has a fifty-two week low of $165.00 and a fifty-two week high of $263.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 1.52.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $6.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.96 by $0.15. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 15.45%. The business had revenue of $214.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Virtus Investment Partners will post 26.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 82.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 153 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 1,937.5% during the first quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 163 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 44.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 171 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 550.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 182 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 495.4% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 387 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

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.