Bokf Na Purchases 7,305 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Bokf Na boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 9,018.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,305 shares during the period. Bokf Na’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 60.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 20,843 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Virtu Financial by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 247,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,109,000 after purchasing an additional 97,697 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 48.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 358,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,907,000 after purchasing an additional 117,062 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth $380,000. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $6,877,802.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares in the company, valued at $15,770,000.19. This trade represents a 30.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 496,848 shares of company stock worth $18,995,338 over the last ninety days. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $43.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.77 and a 200-day moving average of $36.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $21.55 and a one year high of $43.45.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The company had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 27.75%.

About Virtu Financial

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.