Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 2,337 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,164 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 2,337 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.24% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $14,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter worth $280,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter worth $353,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

Shares of VRTS stock opened at $207.61 on Friday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.18 and a fifty-two week high of $252.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.47.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.05. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTS. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 price objective on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.50.

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.