Barclays PLC Increases Stock Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 185.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 103,169 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.10% of Virtu Financial worth $5,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $227,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,688 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,846,000 after acquiring an additional 609,821 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,196,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,018,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,027,000 after purchasing an additional 183,823 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $38.92. The stock had a trading volume of 583,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,876. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.38 and a 52 week high of $41.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.28.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $6,877,802.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 408,867 shares in the company, valued at $15,770,000.19. This represents a 30.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % 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 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VIRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.88.

Virtu Financial Company 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.