Pullen Investment Management LLC Buys 54,668 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 842.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,668 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $2,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 66,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,996,000 after buying an additional 26,756 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $417,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Virtu Financial by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,183,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,373,000 after purchasing an additional 222,862 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 229,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,273,000 after acquiring an additional 2,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 132.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 51,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after purchasing an additional 29,446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $34.01 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.32 and a 200 day moving average of $37.45. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.55 and a 52 week high of $45.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $467.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $422.92 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 20.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VIRT. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.57.

Virtu Financial Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: VIRT) is a leading global electronic trading firm specializing in market making, liquidity provision and trade execution services across a broad range of asset classes. Leveraging advanced quantitative models and proprietary trading technology, Virtu provides continuous bid and ask quotes in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and digital assets. The firm’s infrastructure is designed to operate at high speeds and low latencies, enabling tight spreads and efficient price discovery for its clients.

In addition to its market-making activities, Virtu offers agency execution services, algorithmic trading strategies and transaction cost analysis tools.