Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,771,208 shares of the company’s stock after selling 228,420 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Virtu Financial worth $325,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VIRT. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,149,000 after acquiring an additional 926,376 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,102,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,549,000 after acquiring an additional 474,177 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 457.9% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 337,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,987,000 after acquiring an additional 277,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 128.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 431,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,306,000 after acquiring an additional 242,611 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VIRT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Virtu Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $7,776,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 326,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,697,624.80. This trade represents a 37.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total value of $1,104,727.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,524,477.54. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 270,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,458,644 over the last ninety days. 47.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE VIRT opened at $49.47 on Friday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.55 and a 52-week high of $52.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 8.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.62.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.58. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The company had revenue of $786.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $613.12 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.89%.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.