Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stock Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 7.8%, now holding 106,171 shares worth approximately $4 million.
• Virtu Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24, with an annualized yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 21.82%.
• Recent analyst ratings for Virtu Financial are mixed, with predictions ranging from a neutral rating to a cut in the buy rating, reflecting a consensus rating of "Hold."

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,647 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Virtu Financial worth $4,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased 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 valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,676 shares during the period. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on VIRT shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered 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 report on Thursday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.75.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT traded down $0.49 on Wednesday, hitting $42.40. The company had a trading volume of 763,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 955,078. The company has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.91 and a 200 day moving average of $39.87. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.50 and a 52-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.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.