Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,518 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 132 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 44.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 171 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 550.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 182 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the third quarter valued at $285,000. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 12.2% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 23.0% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,043 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on VRTS shares. TD Cowen lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $264.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTS opened at $227.58 on Friday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $165.00 and a 1 year high of $263.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.29.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $6.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.96 by $0.15. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 15.45%. The firm had revenue of $214.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.04 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is currently 42.91%.

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.