Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 131.2% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 84,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 48,127 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 913.6% during the 4th quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 306,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,205,000 after purchasing an additional 276,071 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,149,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 280,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 60,776 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 278,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,811,000 after purchasing an additional 78,665 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of VIRT opened at $20.65 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.84 and a 200 day moving average of $18.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.02 and a 1-year high of $21.58.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $535.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.96 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 16.94%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.21 per share, with a total value of $810,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 584,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,468,779.72. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 44.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

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.