DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Sells 3,698 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main cut its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,094 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 3,698 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned approximately 0.33% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $5,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 170.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter worth $75,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 395 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRTS. StockNews.com cut shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $220.00 to $158.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on Virtus Investment Partners and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $216.00 to $211.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtus Investment Partners has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:VRTS opened at $165.01 on Friday. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.18 and a 1 year high of $252.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $163.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 11.86 and a quick ratio of 11.86. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 1.47.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The closed-end fund reported $5.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.05. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business had revenue of $217.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.41 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.41%.

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.