Douglas A. Cifu Sells 177,561 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Stock

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This represents a 43.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $39.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.38 and a 1-year high of $41.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.27. 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 (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.88.

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.