Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 246,247 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) by 35.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 445,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 246,247 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $15,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,999,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,987,000 after buying an additional 142,890 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,149,000 after buying an additional 926,376 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,785,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,374,000 after buying an additional 44,976 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,514,000 after buying an additional 14,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,549,000 after buying an additional 474,177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.67.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,126,198.38. This trade represents a 41.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 46.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.1%

Virtu Financial stock opened at $52.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.48. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.55 and a 52-week high of $56.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $49.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.56. The firm has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.61.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.58. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The company had revenue of $786.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given 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 presently 15.89%.

Virtu Financial 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.