Meritage Portfolio Management Purchases 5,919 Shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Meritage Portfolio Management raised its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 36.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,321 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 5,919 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Virtus Investment Partners were worth $4,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in Virtus Investment Partners during the first quarter valued at about $657,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Virtus Investment Partners by 80.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,918 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,451,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $517,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 80.2% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 23,506 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $5,825,000 after purchasing an additional 10,461 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Virtus Investment Partners by 183.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,287 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,872,000 after buying an additional 5,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTS. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $208.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Virtus Investment Partners in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $206.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.50.

Virtus Investment Partners Price Performance

VRTS traded up $1.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $236.65. 37,937 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,360. Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.42 and a 12-month high of $263.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $211.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.68. The company has a quick ratio of 15.18, a current ratio of 15.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.45.

Virtus Investment Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a boost from Virtus Investment Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Virtus Investment Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.71%.

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.