Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 84,304 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,214,000. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Virtu Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the first quarter worth $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the first quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 528.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 2,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Virtu Financial news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 33,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 231,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,993,177.28. The trade was a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.94. 535,151 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,055,458. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.93. The company has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VIRT shares. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.25.

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.