DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Raises Stock Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,229 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,522 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $2,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VIRT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 3,319.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 10,324 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the first quarter worth $231,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 2.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 401,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,291,000 after buying an additional 9,569 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $954,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Virtu Financial by 1.2% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 67,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,586,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 231,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This represents a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the sale, the director owned 33,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615. Insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on VIRT. Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT opened at $43.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.95. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.66 and a fifty-two week high of $45.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%. Virtu Financial's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

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.

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