Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Position Trimmed by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Cresset Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 62.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,133 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,919 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,970,000 after buying an additional 5,371 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $954,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 310,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,088,000 after buying an additional 55,102 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.75. The company had a trading volume of 724,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,733. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $38.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $21.55 and a one year high of $44.58.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The business's revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the business's 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 sale, the director now owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,582.86. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 231,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. The trade was a 43.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615. Insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VIRT shares. Bank of America cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.25.

Virtu Financial Company 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.