Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Acquires 79,700 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 178.3% during the second quarter, owning $5.57 million worth of the company's stock.
• Multiple hedge funds, such as Exchange Traded Concepts LLC, have also significantly increased their holdings in Virtu Financial, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Virtu Financial declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, contributing to an annualized yield of 2.7%.

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 178.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 79,700 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt owned approximately 0.08% of Virtu Financial worth $5,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VIRT. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 83.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,157,000 after buying an additional 670,774 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,956,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,320,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,764,000 after buying an additional 445,586 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 69.5% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,063,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,522,000 after buying an additional 435,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $9,918,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.42. 1,665,588 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 974,129. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50 day moving average price is $41.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.44. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.82 and a 52 week high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is currently 21.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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