AQR Capital Management LLC Has $31.21 Million Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 32.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 874,770 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 213,013 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.57% of Virtu Financial worth $31,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction of $1,253,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,070,006.64. This represents a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $6,877,802.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,770,000.19. The trade was a 30.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 496,848 shares of company stock worth $18,995,338 in the last quarter. Insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.88.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 312,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,733. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $37.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.65. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.55 and a 12 month high of $43.14.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $444.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Virtu Financial Profile

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.