Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 256,958 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 698.3%, owning approximately 293,755 shares valued at $11.2 million after acquiring an additional 256,958 shares.
• Virtu Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.3%, payable on September 15th.
• Recent analyst ratings for Virtu Financial include price targets ranging from $35.00 to $48.00, with an average target price of $39.75 and a general rating of "Hold."

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 698.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 293,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 256,958 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp owned approximately 0.19% of Virtu Financial worth $11,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,568,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $364,753,000 after purchasing an additional 165,396 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 83.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,157,000 after buying an additional 670,774 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,696,000 after buying an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 50.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,320,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,764,000 after buying an additional 445,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 69.5% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,063,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,522,000 after buying an additional 435,958 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $3,845,722.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 47.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.6%

VIRT traded down $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.25. The stock had a trading volume of 475,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 949,415. The stock's 50 day moving average is $42.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.44. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $29.82 and a one year high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America lowered Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.75.

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.