Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 766,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 43,326 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.49% of Virtu Financial worth $29,218,000 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. 44 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the first quarter valued at $1,686,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 401,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,569 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $213,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $231,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 930,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,856,000 after purchasing an additional 95,692 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,452,582.86. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 231,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VIRT. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.13.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT traded up $0.59 on Thursday, hitting $45.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,056,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,045,697. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.10. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.26 and a fifty-two week high of $45.81.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is 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.