Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Makes New $2.40 Million Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Capricorn Fund Managers initiated a new position in Virtu Financial in Q1, buying 54,668 shares valued at about $2.4 million.
• Virtu Financial reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.24 and revenue of $786.53 million, both well above analyst expectations; revenue rose 30.7% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $50.67, while the stock recently traded around $59.58.

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 54,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,404,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 64.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company's stock worth $84,149,000 after purchasing an additional 926,376 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,900,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,338,000 after buying an additional 115,612 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,514,000 after buying an additional 14,113 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 53.1% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,549,000 after buying an additional 474,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,359,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,318,000 after buying an additional 176,184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.67.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.5%

VIRT opened at $59.58 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $53.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $31.55 and a one year high of $64.88.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $786.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $613.12 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 30.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is 15.89%.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $1,501,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at $2,126,198.38. This represents a 41.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 46.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.

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