D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Lowers Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 976,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 259,808 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.63% of Virtu Financial worth $34,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on VIRT shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.88.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $43.15 on Friday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.55 and a 12 month high of $43.45. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.75.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 27.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $6,877,802.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares in the company, valued at $15,770,000.19. This represents a 30.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 496,848 shares of company stock worth $18,995,338. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Profile

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.