DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Lowers Position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main decreased its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,094 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 3,698 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $5,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 276,880 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $61,074,000 after buying an additional 21,344 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 158,028 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $34,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,642 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 106,104 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $23,404,000 after purchasing an additional 9,793 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 last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 71,600 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $15,794,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $165.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 1.47. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $163.35 and a 200 day moving average of $198.46. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.18 and a 52 week high of $252.82.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $5.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.45%. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRTS. Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtus Investment Partners has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Company 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.