Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 281 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 439.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT opened at $39.90 on Wednesday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.59 and a 1-year high of $44.58. The stock has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The business had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $6,903,571.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. The trade was a 43.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc operates as a financial services company in the United States, Asia Pacific, Canada, EMEA, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Market Making and Execution Services. Its product includes offerings in execution, liquidity sourcing, analytics and broker-neutral, capital markets, and multi-dealer platforms in workflow technology.