Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 469 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 469 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,081,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,970,000 after buying an additional 5,371 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after buying an additional 20,843 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 124.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 53,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after buying an additional 29,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 358,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,907,000 after buying an additional 117,062 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 in the last quarter. 46.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $37.58 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.10. The company has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.07 and a 52 week high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.36.

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.