Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $42.31 and last traded at $41.94, with a volume of 1107927 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.16.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid 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 2.22%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.88.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.79. The company has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. 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 (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 the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. The firm's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This represents a 43.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 191,703 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders have sold 496,848 shares of company stock worth $18,995,338. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,568,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $364,753,000 after purchasing an additional 165,396 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $227,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,688 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,696,000 after purchasing an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $39,993,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 69.5% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,063,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,522,000 after purchasing an additional 435,958 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.