Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT Holdings Decreased by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has significantly reduced its stake in Virtu Financial by 79%, selling over 532,000 shares, which has led them to own approximately 0.09% of the company valued at $5.4 million.
• Virtu Financial has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.7%, with a payout ratio of 21.82%.
• Recent analyst ratings for Virtu Financial have been mixed, with Morgan Stanley setting a price objective of $35 (underweight rating) and Piper Sandler raising it to $48 (overweight rating), indicating differing outlooks on the stock’s performance.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 79.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,479 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 532,103 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Virtu Financial worth $5,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth $231,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 3,319.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 10,324 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 401,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,291,000 after buying an additional 9,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 92.3% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 107,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,108,000 after buying an additional 51,713 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $36.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $45.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is 21.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VIRT. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $3,845,722.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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