Invesco Ltd. Buys 82,396 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 802,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 82,396 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.52% of Virtu Financial worth $28,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth $1,081,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,970,000 after acquiring an additional 5,371 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 20,843 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 117,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $954,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 4.6 %

Virtu Financial stock traded up $1.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $40.38. The stock had a trading volume of 619,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 993,858. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.05. The stock has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.38 and a 52 week high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.19. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. Analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Virtu Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.21.

Insider Activity

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. Corporate insiders own 46.70% 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.