Hancock Whitney Corp Takes $1.31 Million Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 36,797 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,313,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VIRT. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 60.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,691,000 after buying an additional 20,843 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $244,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 65.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 247,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,109,000 after buying an additional 97,697 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 48.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 358,065 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,907,000 after buying an additional 117,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 135.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 3,276 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on VIRT. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.88.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.6 %

Virtu Financial stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Thursday, reaching $40.15. The stock had a trading volume of 474,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,115. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.55 and a 52-week high of $41.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.30. The stock has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at $7,070,006.64. This represents a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 496,848 shares of company stock worth $18,995,338. Corporate 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.