Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Makes New Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 44,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $227,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401,688 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 valued at $51,696,000 after acquiring an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $39,993,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,809,000 after buying an additional 52,800 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,846,000 after buying an additional 609,821 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT traded up $0.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 775,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,137. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.59 and a 12-month high of $44.58. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $39.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The firm had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $6,877,802.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 408,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,770,000.19. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615 in the last quarter. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VIRT. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.