Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 202 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,940 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 230.7% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 14,888 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,007,000 after acquiring an additional 10,386 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 106.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,828 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $5,519,000 after acquiring an additional 11,792 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 5.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,366 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $19,061,000 after acquiring an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 12.2% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $264.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

VRTS opened at $227.58 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 1.52. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $165.00 and a 1 year high of $263.39.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The closed-end fund reported $5.41 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $5.41. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 19.68% and a net margin of 14.02%. The firm had revenue of $200.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.54 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is presently 45.78%.

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.