OLD National Bancorp IN Sells 150,791 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• OLD National Bancorp IN cut its stake in Virtu by 52.9%, selling 150,791 shares in Q4 and now owns 134,467 shares valued at $4.48 million.
• Heavy insider selling: EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares and COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares; insiders sold 270,000 shares (~$10.46 million) in the quarter while retaining 47.2% ownership.
• Earnings and outlook: Virtu topped estimates with Q EPS of $1.85 (vs. $1.12) and revenue of $969.9M (vs. $513.5M); the stock trades at a P/E of ~9.4, yields 2.0% annually, and carries an average analyst price target of $46 ("Moderate Buy").

OLD National Bancorp IN trimmed its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT - Free Report) by 52.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 134,467 shares of the company's stock after selling 150,791 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN owned approximately 0.09% of Virtu Financial worth $4,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company's stock worth $84,149,000 after purchasing an additional 926,376 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth about $19,102,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 53.1% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the company's stock worth $48,549,000 after purchasing an additional 474,177 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 457.9% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 337,662 shares of the company's stock worth $11,987,000 after purchasing an additional 277,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 128.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 431,145 shares of the company's stock worth $15,306,000 after purchasing an additional 242,611 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Virtu Financial news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.61, for a total transaction of $1,128,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 174,561 shares in the company, valued at $6,565,239.21. The trade was a 14.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $7,776,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 326,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,697,624.80. This trade represents a 37.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 270,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,458,644. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VIRT. Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Virtu Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Virtu Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.00.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 0.1%

VIRT opened at $48.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.54. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.55 and a 12 month high of $52.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.56 and a 200 day moving average of $37.97.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $969.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $513.51 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 48.35% and a net margin of 12.90%.The firm's revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.71%.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.

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