Quantbot Technologies LP Buys New Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP has acquired 17,955 shares of Virtu Financial, valued at around $684,000, during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on Virtu Financial, with target prices ranging from $31.00 to $48.00 and a consensus rating of "Hold".
• Virtu Financial has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 21.82%.

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 17,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,568,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $364,753,000 after acquiring an additional 165,396 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 670,774 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 471,526 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $39,993,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 69.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 435,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $3,845,722.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on VIRT. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America cut 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.75.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Virtu Financial stock traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $42.39. 931,773 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 943,674. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.19. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $45.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.82%.

About Virtu Financial

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.