Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Stock Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,780,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 112,705 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 2.45% of Virtu Financial worth $134,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,688 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,809,000 after buying an additional 52,800 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,846,000 after acquiring an additional 609,821 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,027,000 after acquiring an additional 183,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 802,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,629,000 after purchasing an additional 82,396 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Virtu Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 157,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 over the last three months. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $32.82 on Wednesday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.15 and a twelve month high of $41.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.60.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.