Vident Advisory LLC Purchases 8,653 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 124.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,371 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $954,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 310,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,088,000 after purchasing an additional 55,102 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America downgraded 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. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

VIRT traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,319,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,106. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.68. The company has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.59 and a 1 year high of $44.58.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.75%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $6,877,802.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,770,000.19. This represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

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.