Morgan Stanley Boosts Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Price Target to $217.00

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $208.00 to $217.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underweight" rating on the closed-end fund's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 3.19% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Virtus Investment Partners in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $206.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $267.00 to $264.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $250.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $233.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

Shares of VRTS traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $224.15. 23,619 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 44,323. Virtus Investment Partners has a 12 month low of $168.78 and a 12 month high of $263.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 15.18 and a current ratio of 15.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 1.46. The business's 50-day moving average price is $206.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.93.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $6.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.61 by ($0.08). Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 12.41%. The company had revenue of $203.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.71 million. Equities analysts predict that Virtus Investment Partners will post 25.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Virtus Investment Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 328,067 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $74,092,000 after buying an additional 8,393 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 78.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 50,952 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $11,508,000 after buying an additional 22,344 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,776,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 14.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 28,113 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $6,349,000 after buying an additional 3,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 80.2% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 23,506 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $5,825,000 after purchasing an additional 10,461 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.