Raymond James Financial Inc. Increases Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 23.2%, acquiring an additional 79,457 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 421,282 shares valued at $16.06 million.
• Virtu Financial has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24, which will be paid to shareholders on September 15th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.3%.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for Virtu Financial, with Piper Sandler raising it to $48, while Bank of America downgraded it to $43.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 23.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 421,282 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 79,457 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.27% of Virtu Financial worth $16,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 18.6% during the first quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 27,147 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 4,266 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 24.3% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 134,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 26,283 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Virtu Financial by 50.4% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 302,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,540,000 after purchasing an additional 101,465 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $18,956,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $384,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $3,845,722.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VIRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America cut 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. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.75.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:VIRT traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.46. The company had a trading volume of 45,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 937,391. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $45.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.