Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Sold by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC cut its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 71.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,796 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 126,642 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 439.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $6,903,571.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. The trade was a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT traded up $0.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.61. 800,154 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,143,604. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $40.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.04. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.59 and a 12-month high of $44.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%. Virtu Financial's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is 27.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VIRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.25.

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.