Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $212.95, but opened at $223.61. Virtus Investment Partners shares last traded at $223.60, with a volume of 786 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRTS shares. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $250.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $208.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Virtus Investment Partners in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $206.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtus Investment Partners has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $233.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $208.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.02. The company has a quick ratio of 15.18, a current ratio of 15.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 1.46.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $6.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $203.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.71 million. On average, analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 26 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. This is an increase from Virtus Investment Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. Virtus Investment Partners's payout ratio is presently 50.90%.

Institutional Trading of Virtus Investment Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,776,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 78.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 50,952 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $11,508,000 after purchasing an additional 22,344 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,553,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 80.2% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 23,506 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $5,825,000 after buying an additional 10,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 328,067 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $74,092,000 after buying an additional 8,393 shares in the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.