Burford Capital Limited $BUR Shares Sold by Virtu Financial LLC

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC has reduced its stake in Burford Capital Limited by 64.5% during the first quarter, leaving them with 11,765 shares worth approximately $155,000.
• Insiders, including CEO Christopher P. Bogart and CIO Jonathan Todd Molot, sold a total of 444,500 shares valued at $6.49 million in recent transactions, reflecting significant decreases in their ownership percentages.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Burford Capital, with Wall Street Zen downgrading the stock from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, while Wedbush maintains an "outperform" rating with a target price of $18.00.

Virtu Financial LLC cut its position in Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR - Free Report) by 64.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,765 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,336 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Burford Capital were worth $155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 0.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,527,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,804,000 after purchasing an additional 34,228 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,727,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,529,000 after purchasing an additional 691,269 shares during the period. Sycale Advisors NY LLC boosted its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sycale Advisors NY LLC now owns 2,157,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,514,000 after purchasing an additional 107,983 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP purchased a new position in shares of Burford Capital in the first quarter valued at $24,761,000. Finally, Emeth Value Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 4.4% in the first quarter. Emeth Value Capital LLC now owns 1,472,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,452,000 after purchasing an additional 62,374 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Burford Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Burford Capital in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Burford Capital presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Burford Capital

In other Burford Capital news, insider David Perla sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total transaction of $102,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,170,511.20. This represents a 8.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CIO Jonathan Todd Molot sold 210,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total transaction of $3,066,000.00. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 3,406,625 shares in the company, valued at $49,736,725. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 444,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,489,700 over the last three months. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Burford Capital Stock Up 3.5%

NYSE BUR traded up $0.4790 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $14.0790. 457,135 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,373,355. Burford Capital Limited has a 12 month low of $10.70 and a 12 month high of $15.73. The company has a current ratio of 10.09, a quick ratio of 10.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.56.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $191.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.02 million. Burford Capital had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 7.48%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Burford Capital Limited will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

About Burford Capital

Burford Capital Limited provides legal finance products and services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Capital Provision, and Asset Management and Other Provision. The Capital Provision segment provides capital to the legal industry or in connection with legal matters directly and through investment in private funds; legal risk management services; lower risk legal finance business focusing on pre-settlement litigation matters with lower risk and lower expected returns; post-settlement finance; and complex strategies in which it acts as a principal and acquires assets that are mispriced.