Quantinno Capital Management LP Grows Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 84.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,315 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,455 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Virtu Financial stock traded up $0.41 on Tuesday, reaching $41.16. The company had a trading volume of 144,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,162. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.55 and a 52-week high of $44.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $39.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.54. The firm has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Virtu Financial's revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIRT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This trade represents a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

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.