Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Raises Holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 110,429 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,193 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 1.57% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $23,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 6,550.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 133 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 334.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 382 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the second quarter valued at about $164,000. 80.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VRTS. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $264.00 to $274.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $208.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Virtus Investment Partners in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $206.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.00.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTS opened at $246.97 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.42 and a 52-week high of $263.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $222.95 and a 200-day moving average of $220.01.

About Virtus Investment Partners

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.