Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 14,225 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 320,122 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,225 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.21% of Virtu Financial worth $11,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,401,688 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,846,000 after acquiring an additional 609,821 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,696,000 after acquiring an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $12,196,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,018,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ VIRT traded down $0.23 on Friday, hitting $40.75. 724,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,189,265. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.95 and a 200-day moving average of $37.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.55 and a 52 week high of $44.58. The stock has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In related news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,923 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,770,000.19. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VIRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America cut 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.25.

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.