Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Sold by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 342,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,212 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned 0.22% of Virtu Financial worth $13,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 28.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $39,993,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 180.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,846,000 after purchasing an additional 609,821 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,196,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Virtu Financial stock traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $41.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 492,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,177,708. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $21.59 and a one year high of $44.58. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $39.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Virtu Financial's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $6,877,802.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,770,000.19. This trade represents a 30.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,452,582.86. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615 over the last three months. Company insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VIRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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 cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.25.

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.