MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 307 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,126 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $9,503,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 worth $61,074,000 after purchasing an additional 21,344 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $18,030,000 after purchasing an additional 20,544 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,124,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $159.06 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.41 and a beta of 1.36. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.18 and a 12 month high of $252.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $165.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.46.

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

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 53.41%.

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.