Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Buys Shares of 145,940 Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. has invested approximately $5.56 million in Virtu Financial, acquiring 145,940 shares in the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Virtu Financial vary, with two analysts rating it as a Buy, five as Hold, and one as Sell, reflecting a consensus price target of $39.75.
• Virtu Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, indicating a yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 21.82%.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 145,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,563,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Virtu Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,157,000 after purchasing an additional 670,774 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $18,956,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 471,526 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,320,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,764,000 after purchasing an additional 445,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 69.5% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,063,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,522,000 after purchasing an additional 435,958 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on VIRT. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America lowered 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.75.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Virtu Financial stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.57. The company had a trading volume of 919,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,940. The company has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $45.77. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $42.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $3,845,722.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

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.