Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,962 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 909 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.52% of Virtus Investment Partners worth $7,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the second quarter worth $42,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners during the third quarter worth $42,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Virtus Investment Partners in the first quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Virtus Investment Partners by 625.6% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 312 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.52% of the company’s stock.

Virtus Investment Partners Trading Down 1.5 %

VRTS opened at $232.36 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $190.42 and a one year high of $263.39. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $216.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRTS. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Virtus Investment Partners from $208.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Virtus Investment Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Virtus Investment Partners in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $206.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.50.

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.