Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Bought by Vident Advisory LLC

Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 124.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,618 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,653 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VIRT. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 8,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America downgraded Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group reissued 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, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.25.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 231,306 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,582.86. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of VIRT traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.98. The company had a trading volume of 685,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,947. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.55 and a 1 year high of $44.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $39.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.59.

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

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

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.