Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 9,569 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 401,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,569 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.26% of Virtu Financial worth $15,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 16,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 5,377 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,032,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,196,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 6,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,261,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VIRT. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $43.94 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $42.17 and its 200 day moving average is $38.93. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.50 and a 12-month high of $45.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $6,903,571.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 231,306 shares in the company, valued at $8,993,177.28. The trade was a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 33,923 shares in the company, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Company 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.

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