Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 119,060 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. by 239.1% in Q2, owning a total of 168,856 shares worth $7.56 million.
• Insider trading activity included COO Brett Fairclough selling 90,701 shares at an average price of $42.40, totaling over $3.84 million.
• Virtu Financial has been rated with a consensus of "Hold" by analysts, with price targets ranging from $35.00 to $48.00.

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 239.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 168,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 119,060 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned about 0.11% of Virtu Financial worth $7,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $231,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 10,324 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 401,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 191,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,176,000 after acquiring an additional 103,714 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Wall Street Zen cut Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.75.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of VIRT stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,665,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,129. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.82 and a 52-week high of $45.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $41.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $3,845,722.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 47.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Virtu Financial

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.