Millennium Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,113 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after buying an additional 3,589 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.39% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $6,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $657,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 80.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,918 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $3,451,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the first quarter worth about $517,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 80.2% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 183.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,287 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 5,359 shares during the period. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $267.00 to $264.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $250.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Virtus Investment Partners in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $206.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $213.00 to $208.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $231.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Up 1.3 %

VRTS stock traded up $2.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $207.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,771. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 15.18, a current ratio of 15.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.78 and a 52-week high of $263.39.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $6.53 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $203.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $204.71 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 25.9 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from Virtus Investment Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. Virtus Investment Partners's payout ratio is 50.90%.

Virtus Investment Partners 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.