Short Interest in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Increases By 40.1%
Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 164,200 shares, a growth of 40.1% from the April 30th total of 117,200 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 58,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.
In other Virtus Investment Partners news, Director W Howard Morris bought 435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $231.00 per share, with a total value of $100,485.00. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 5.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 68.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 18,025 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $5,356,000 after buying an additional 7,293 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 3.0% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 39,533 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $12,268,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 2.3% in the third quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,553 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $30,583,000 after buying an additional 2,194 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter worth $1,515,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $220,000. 85.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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VRTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 18th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Virtus Investment Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $240.00 to $221.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 26th.
Shares of NASDAQ VRTS opened at $193.96 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.56. Virtus Investment Partners has a 52-week low of $161.30 and a 52-week high of $338.80.
Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $7.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.91 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $221.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.10 million. Virtus Investment Partners had a return on equity of 35.94% and a net margin of 20.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Virtus Investment Partners will post 31.71 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 29th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 28th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.32%.
Virtus Investment Partners Company Profile (Get Rating)
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.
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