Bank of America Corp DE Trims Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 57.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 550,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 732,293 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.36% of Virtu Financial worth $19,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $227,488,000 after buying 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 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,846,000 after buying an additional 609,821 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,696,000 after buying an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,196,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,018,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VIRT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.25.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the business'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 now directly owns 231,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This represents a 43.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

VIRT stock opened at $42.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $21.55 and a one year high of $44.58. The firm has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

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.

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