Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS Holdings Decreased by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its stake in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,775 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 16,936 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 1.37% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $16,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 30.2% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 366 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter worth approximately $93,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. R Squared Ltd lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 311.8% in the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 1,400 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter worth approximately $253,000. 80.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $171.00 price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $188.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $195.66 on Wednesday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.18 and a 12 month high of $252.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 11.86, a current ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $198.38 and its 200-day moving average is $179.38.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.17 by $0.08. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The company had revenue of $210.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $2.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 46.74%.

Virtus Investment Partners 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.