Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Stock Price Down 4.4% – What’s Next?

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)’s share price fell 4.4% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $200.00 and last traded at $199.81. 8,857 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 35,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $208.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $239.00 to $221.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $224.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $274.00 to $258.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 4.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.47. The company has a quick ratio of 11.86, a current ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Virtus Investment Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. Virtus Investment Partners’s payout ratio is presently 54.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 388.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 127 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the third quarter worth $42,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 138.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 317 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter worth about $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

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.