Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. $VRTS Stock Holdings Increased by WCM Investment Management LLC

WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,078 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 22,900 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $22,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 8.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 299,961 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $51,701,000 after buying an additional 23,081 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 38.5% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 113,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $19,510,000 after buying an additional 31,454 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 1.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 107,639 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $18,553,000 after buying an additional 1,535 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 1.1% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,674 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $16,318,000 after buying an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.8% in the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 63,830 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $11,002,000 after buying an additional 2,940 shares during the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTS opened at $191.52 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 1.43. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.18 and a 12-month high of $252.82. The company has a current ratio of 11.86, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.89.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The closed-end fund reported $6.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $210.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.90 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 13.42%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.53 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.40 per share. This represents a $9.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This is an increase from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on VRTS shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $211.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $190.50.

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.