Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC Sells 66,200 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC lowered its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 130,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,200 shares during the quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $4,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 32.2% in the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 275,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,797,000 after purchasing an additional 67,230 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 33.8% in the third quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 28,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 7,092 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth $789,000. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 39.4% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 247,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,785,000 after buying an additional 69,980 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 36.9% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 64,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,307,000 after buying an additional 17,522 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Virtu Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VIRT opened at $39.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.55 and a fifty-two week high of $45.77. The stock has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.32 and a 200-day moving average of $36.20.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.73. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 48.35% and a net margin of 12.90%.The business had revenue of $969.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $513.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.71%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $7,776,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 326,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,697,624.80. This trade represents a 37.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total transaction of $1,104,727.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 116,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,524,477.54. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 270,000 shares of company stock worth $10,458,644. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.