Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Buys Shares of 23,459 Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Polar Asset Management initiated a position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter, buying 23,459 shares valued at approximately $1.03 million. Institutional investors collectively own 45.78% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $55.17, despite several analysts recently raising their targets.
• Virtu Financial reported quarterly EPS of $1.82 on $718 million in revenue and maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, equivalent to a 1.6% yield.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,032,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,149,000 after buying an additional 926,376 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 41.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,928,509 shares of the company's stock worth $85,607,000 after acquiring an additional 569,057 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,920,590 shares of the company's stock worth $84,458,000 after acquiring an additional 19,888 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,514,000 after acquiring an additional 14,113 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 53.1% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,549,000 after acquiring an additional 474,177 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $1,501,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,126,198.38. The trade was a 41.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 46.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VIRT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $39.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Virtu Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.17.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:VIRT opened at $59.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.14. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.55 and a 52-week high of $68.02. The company has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.48.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $718.00 million for the quarter. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.Virtu Financial has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.820-1.820 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.89%.

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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