Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday. 96,473 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the previous session’s volume of 116,442 shares. The stock last traded at $128.1310 and had previously closed at $130.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $141.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $155.00 to $136.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Virtus Investment Partners from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $140.25.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 2.3%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $150.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.36. The stock has a market cap of $844.88 million, a P/E ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 11.86, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This is a positive change from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.40. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.7%. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.84%.

Insider Activity at Virtus Investment Partners

In other news, EVP Michael Angerthal sold 14,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.34, for a total value of $2,505,916.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,619,563.74. The trade was a 19.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director W. Morris sold 435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.59, for a total value of $60,286.65. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtus Investment Partners

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTS. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the second quarter valued at $151,624,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 305,115 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $40,990,000 after purchasing an additional 7,987 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,962 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $11,188,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,148,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 38.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 52,930 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,111,000 after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the last quarter. 80.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Virtus Investment Partners Company Profile

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc is a U.S.-based asset management company that operates as a multi-manager investment platform. Through a collection of affiliated investment managers, the company provides investment strategies designed to address a range of investor objectives and risk profiles.

Virtus offers mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investment solutions. Its affiliated managers provide expertise across domestic and international equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, alternatives and other specialized investment approaches.

The company traces its roots to 1995 and was previously associated with Phoenix Investment Partners before adopting the Virtus Investment Partners name.