Vontobel Holding Ltd. Makes New Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 0.8% during the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 33,397 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,273,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted 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 worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 4.4%

VIRT stock opened at $42.85 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.60 and a twelve month high of $45.12. The company's 50 day moving average is $41.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.79. The stock has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The company had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $444.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VIRT. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 231,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This trade represents a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615. 47.20% of the stock is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.