Pinebridge Investments L.P. Purchases New Shares in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 60.2% during 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 acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $244,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 247,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,109,000 after purchasing an additional 97,697 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 358,065 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,907,000 after purchasing an additional 117,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 135.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of Virtu Financial stock traded up $1.34 on Friday, hitting $41.16. The stock had a trading volume of 935,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,188,137. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.15 and a 200 day moving average of $36.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.55 and a twelve month high of $41.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Virtu Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In related news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,993,177.28. This represents a 43.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders sold 496,848 shares of company stock valued at $18,995,338. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. Bank of America decreased their price target on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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. One equities 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.88.

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.