Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $208.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Virtus Investment Partners in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $206.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $233.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTS opened at $247.67 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $219.78 and a 200-day moving average of $219.59. 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 has a 1-year low of $190.42 and a 1-year high of $263.39.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 328,067 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $74,092,000 after purchasing an additional 8,393 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 255,536 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $53,522,000 after acquiring an additional 16,586 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 151,328 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,702,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 113,892 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $23,670,000 after acquiring an additional 4,359 shares during the period. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 110,429 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $23,129,000 after acquiring an additional 12,193 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Virtus Investment Partners Company 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.