Nuveen LLC Takes Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 497,266 shares of Virtu Financial, valued at approximately $18.96 million, during the first quarter, bringing its ownership stake to about 0.32%.
• Brokerage firms provided mixed ratings on Virtu Financial, with JPMorgan Chase raising its target price to $39.00 while Bank of America downgraded it to a neutral rating with a $43.00 target.
• Virtu Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24, to be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 2.3%.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 497,266 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $18,956,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Virtu Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,568,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $364,753,000 after acquiring an additional 165,396 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake 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 valued at $56,157,000 after purchasing an additional 670,774 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 471,526 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,993,000. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 435,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $3,845,722.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VIRT. Wall Street Zen downgraded 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 Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.75.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.1%

VIRT stock traded up $0.4520 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.0320. 740,538 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 945,013. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.71 and a 1 year high of $45.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.18 and a 200-day moving average of $40.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is 21.82%.

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.