Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $1.68 Million Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 53.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 50,554 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 528.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 2,676 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 2,749.7% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 4,537 shares in the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $210,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 231,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This represents a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615 over the last ninety days. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VIRT shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.13.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.22. 452,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,053,563. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.66 and a 52-week high of $45.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.96. The company has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70. 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 (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

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.