SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 1,814.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 58,786 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $2,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 9.1% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 320,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,383,000 after purchasing an additional 41,474 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 139.4% during the third quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 8,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 4,776 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VIRT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Virtu Financial from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised 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 issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.71.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $34.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $31.55 and a one year high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.01. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%.The firm had revenue of $467.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $422.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Virtu Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.