Man Group plc raised its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 530.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 44,804 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 439.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial
In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $6,903,571.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This trade represents a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Virtu Financial Price Performance
Shares of Virtu Financial stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.99. The company had a trading volume of 315,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,001,256. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.57. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.55 and a 1-year high of $44.58.
Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Virtu Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.
Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is presently 27.75%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
VIRT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Evercore ISI increased 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.25.
Read Our Latest Research Report on VIRT
Virtu Financial Profile
(
Free Report)
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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