Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.56 Million in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 35,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,557,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 480.6% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Virtu Financial by 51.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 93.7% in the third quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.67.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 3.8%

Virtu Financial stock opened at $61.85 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $31.55 and a fifty-two week high of $64.88. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.66.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.58. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The business had revenue of $786.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is presently 15.89%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the business’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 value of $1,501,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 42,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,126,198.38. The trade was a 41.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 46.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Virtu Financial Company 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.