Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Shares in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,400 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 171 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in 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. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 16,000 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 550.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 182 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTS. TD Cowen cut 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 research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Virtus Investment Partners stock opened at $227.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.29. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12-month low of $165.00 and a 12-month high of $263.39.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $6.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.96 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $214.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.20 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.91%.

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.