Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS – Get Rating) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 93,900 shares, a decrease of 26.0% from the January 31st total of 126,900 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 77,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts recently commented on VRTS shares. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Virtus Investment Partners from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $248.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $134.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,188,513 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $285,232,000 after purchasing an additional 27,115 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 896,632 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $215,182,000 after acquiring an additional 48,669 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 266,657 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $51,048,000 after acquiring an additional 3,822 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 254,603 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $43,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 87.1% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 146,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,969,000 after acquiring an additional 68,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.91% of the company’s stock.
Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $206.66 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $209.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.24. Virtus Investment Partners has a twelve month low of $141.80 and a twelve month high of $249.37. The company has a quick ratio of 13.06, a current ratio of 13.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 1.63.
Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th will be paid a $1.65 dividend. This represents a $6.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 27th. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.50%.
About Virtus Investment Partners
Virtus Investment Partners, Inc is an asset management company, which engages in the provision of investment management and related services to individuals and institutions. It offers financial solutions and products such as mutual funds, managed accounts, institutional, closed-end funds, Virtus variable insurance trust funds, and other portfolio.