Barclays Cuts Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Price Target to $149.00

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) had its price target lowered by Barclays from $200.00 to $149.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $252.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.00.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Up 0.7 %

VRTS opened at $149.03 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 11.86, a current ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Virtus Investment Partners has a twelve month low of $144.13 and a twelve month high of $252.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.59.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is 53.25%.

Institutional Trading of Virtus Investment Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,503,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 276,880 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $61,074,000 after buying an additional 21,344 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 81,738 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $18,030,000 after acquiring an additional 20,544 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter worth about $3,124,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 158,028 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $34,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,642 shares during the period. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.