Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Stock Position Raised by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 69.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,063,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 435,958 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.69% of Virtu Financial worth $40,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $54,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 528.9% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth $213,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 231,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This represents a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ VIRT traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $43.94. 382,630 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 949,570. The company's 50 day moving average price is $42.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70. 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 twelve month low of $26.50 and a twelve month high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The company had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. The company's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VIRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America lowered Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.13.

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.