IHT Wealth Management LLC Makes New $356,000 Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,971 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the 4th 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. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value 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 $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % 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. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of VIRT traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,141,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,026,701. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.55 and a 1-year high of $41.38. 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 50 day simple moving average of $36.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.30. The stock has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Virtu Financial's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.75%.

Virtu Financial 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.