Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) CEO Douglas A. Cifu Sells 177,561 Shares

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $6,903,571.68. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $39.20. 1,218,828 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,188,846. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $36.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.38 and a 12-month high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $497.14 million during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VIRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.88.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 401,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,569 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $231,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 930,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,856,000 after acquiring an additional 95,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 3,319.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 10,324 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

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.

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