Advisors Capital Management LLC Acquires 13,699 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Virtu Financial by 8.4%, now owning 176,300 shares worth approximately $6.72 million.
• COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of Virtu Financial for over $3.84 million on August 7th, highlighting active insider trading.
• Virtu Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, with a yield of 2.6%, set to be paid on September 15th.

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,699 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned 0.11% of Virtu Financial worth $6,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VIRT. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 243.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 782 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1,624.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the first quarter worth $54,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 26.0% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.66. 952,246 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 967,632. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.82 and a 12 month high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is 21.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $3,845,722.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.75.

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.