Hancock Whitney Corp Grows Stock Holdings in 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 lifted its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 698.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 293,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 256,958 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp owned approximately 0.19% of Virtu Financial worth $11,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,157,000 after acquiring an additional 670,774 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,956,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,696,000 after acquiring an additional 471,526 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 50.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 445,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 69.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 435,958 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $41.46 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.98, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.82 and a 1-year high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $3,845,722.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 47.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Virtu Financial Company 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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