Hahn Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Hahn Capital Management trimmed its stake in Virtu Financial by 6.3% in Q4, selling 18,429 shares and ending with 275,830 shares valued at about $9.19 million.
• Virtu Financial’s COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares at $50.06 each, a transaction worth about $1.5 million and a 41.39% reduction in his position.
• The company posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $2.24 per share and revenue of $786.53 million, while analysts currently hold a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $48.67.

Hahn Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT - Free Report) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 275,830 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,429 shares during the period. Virtu Financial comprises about 5.0% of Hahn Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Hahn Capital Management LLC owned about 0.18% of Virtu Financial worth $9,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,939 shares of the company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 8,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Virtu Financial by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 972 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $1,501,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,126,198.38. The trade was a 41.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 46.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on VIRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.67.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of VIRT opened at $62.97 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $52.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.00. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.55 and a 12 month high of $63.40. The company has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.58. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The company had revenue of $786.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $613.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 30.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.89%.

Virtu Financial Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.