Freestone Grove Partners LP Acquires Shares of 15,776 Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $227,488,000 after buying an additional 1,401,688 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,846,000 after acquiring an additional 609,821 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,696,000 after purchasing an additional 471,526 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,196,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,018,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VIRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.88.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Virtu Financial stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.91. 334,911 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,185,854. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.65. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $21.55 and a one year high of $43.14. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. This trade represents a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $6,877,802.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 408,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,770,000.19. This trade represents a 30.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 496,848 shares of company stock worth $18,995,338. 47.20% of the stock is 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.