Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. cut its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 573 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd.’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter worth $9,503,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.4% during 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 buying an additional 21,344 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 20,544 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $3,124,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 8.7% during the fourth 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VRTS shares. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays set a $150.00 target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $178.33 on Friday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.18 and a 1-year high of $252.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $163.13 and a 200 day moving average of $196.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 11.86 and a quick ratio of 11.86.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The company had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.41%.

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.