Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 209,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,416 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $6,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 3,460.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 712 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 258.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 93.7% during the 3rd quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VIRT. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.67.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:VIRT opened at $52.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.51. The company has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.55 and a 52-week high of $56.48.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $786.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $613.12 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 15.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $1,501,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,126,198.38. This represents a 41.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 46.76% 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.