Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,601 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth about $54,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth about $231,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 3,319.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 10,324 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 2.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 401,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the second quarter worth about $417,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $3,845,722.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT stock opened at $33.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $45.77. The firm has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.91.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%.The business had revenue of $274.00 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Virtu Financial from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.43.

Virtu Financial Company 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.