18,621 Shares in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Bought by Sierra Summit Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired 18,621 shares of Virtu Financial, valued at approximately $710,000, marking a new position in the company as of the first quarter.
• Virtu Financial recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.3%, to be paid on September 15th.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of Virtu Financial's stock, indicating significant institutional interest.

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 18,621 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $710,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VIRT. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $227,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,688 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $39,993,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,696,000 after acquiring an additional 471,526 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 69.5% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,063,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,522,000 after acquiring an additional 435,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 1,358.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 329,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,765,000 after acquiring an additional 307,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $42.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.14 and a 52-week high of $45.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $3,845,722.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,582.86. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.75.

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.

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