Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT Position Boosted by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 281.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,819 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 170.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 555,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,890,000 after buying an additional 350,401 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 128.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 431,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,306,000 after acquiring an additional 242,611 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,183,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,373,000 after acquiring an additional 222,862 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,490,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,999,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,987,000 after purchasing an additional 142,890 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $40.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.29. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.55 and a fifty-two week high of $45.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $969.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $513.51 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. Virtu Financial’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VIRT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.61, for a total transaction of $1,128,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 174,561 shares in the company, valued at $6,565,239.21. This trade represents a 14.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $7,776,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 326,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,697,624.80. The trade was a 37.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 270,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,458,644 over the last quarter. Insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: VIRT) is a leading global electronic trading firm specializing in market making, liquidity provision and trade execution services across a broad range of asset classes. Leveraging advanced quantitative models and proprietary trading technology, Virtu provides continuous bid and ask quotes in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and digital assets. The firm’s infrastructure is designed to operate at high speeds and low latencies, enabling tight spreads and efficient price discovery for its clients.

In addition to its market-making activities, Virtu offers agency execution services, algorithmic trading strategies and transaction cost analysis tools.