Bayesian Capital Management LP Invests $210,000 in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 8,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ VIRT traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $43.15. 910,969 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,191,437. The firm has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.55 and a 52-week high of $43.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.79.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 496,848 shares of company stock valued at $18,995,338. 47.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.