Short Interest in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) Decreases By 18.0%

Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS – Get Rating) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 134,600 shares, a decrease of 18.0% from the May 15th total of 164,200 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 54,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Shares of VRTS stock opened at $178.60 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $187.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $236.67. Virtus Investment Partners has a one year low of $161.30 and a one year high of $338.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 1.64.

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $7.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.91 by ($0.04). Virtus Investment Partners had a net margin of 20.16% and a return on equity of 35.94%. The business had revenue of $221.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.78 EPS. Analysts forecast that Virtus Investment Partners will post 31.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 28th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.32%.

In other news, Director W Howard Morris sold 151 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.09, for a total value of $29,005.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,762.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners during the 4th quarter worth $20,103,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 896,632 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $215,182,000 after acquiring an additional 48,669 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA acquired a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the fourth quarter valued at $11,884,000. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 338,969 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $100,708,000 after purchasing an additional 38,640 shares during the period. Finally, Full18 Capital LLC increased its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 211.1% in the first quarter. Full18 Capital LLC now owns 47,686 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $11,802,000 after purchasing an additional 32,360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.06% of the company’s stock.

VRTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $240.00 to $221.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 26th.

About Virtus Investment Partners (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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