Victory Capital (NASDAQ:VCTR) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Victory Capital (NASDAQ:VCTR) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $60.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $40.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on VCTR. Bank of America upped their price target on Victory Capital from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Victory Capital from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Victory Capital from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Victory Capital from $59.50 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Victory Capital in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Victory Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Victory Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCTR opened at $61.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.91. Victory Capital has a 1 year low of $28.66 and a 1 year high of $61.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.13.

Victory Capital (NASDAQ:VCTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.04. Victory Capital had a return on equity of 29.74% and a net margin of 27.87%. The business had revenue of $219.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.82 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Victory Capital will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Victory Capital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. This is an increase from Victory Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Victory Capital’s payout ratio is presently 50.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Victory Capital

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Victory Capital by 426.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 589,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,310,000 after buying an additional 477,798 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Victory Capital by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,212,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,627,000 after purchasing an additional 104,746 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Victory Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $688,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Victory Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $555,000. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in Victory Capital in the first quarter valued at about $298,000. 87.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Victory Capital

Victory Capital Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset management company in the United States and internationally. It offers investment advisory, fund administration, fund compliance, fund transfer agent, fund distribution, and other management services. The company provides specialized investment strategies to institutions, intermediaries, retirement platforms, and individual investors.