Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) Stock Gets Downgrade from Zacks Research

Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ:VRTS) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Virtus Investment Partners from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $135.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Virtus Investment Partners from $155.00 to $136.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtus Investment Partners has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $135.75.

Virtus Investment Partners Stock Performance

VRTS stock opened at $122.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.21. Virtus Investment Partners has a 52 week low of $120.18 and a 52 week high of $192.00. The stock has a market cap of $812.38 million, a P/E ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 11.86 and a current ratio of 11.86.

Insider Activity at Virtus Investment Partners

In other Virtus Investment Partners news, EVP Michael A. Angerthal sold 14,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.34, for a total value of $2,505,916.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director W. Morris sold 435 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.59, for a total transaction of $60,286.65. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 409 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Virtus Investment Partners in the second quarter worth $129,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 158.6% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 181 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 274.6% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 648 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the second quarter valued at about $217,000. Institutional investors own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

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.