Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Sold by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank reduced its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,573 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VIRT. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $6,903,571.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 231,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,993,177.28. This trade represents a 43.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,070,006.64. This trade represents a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 496,848 shares of company stock valued at $18,995,338 over the last 90 days. 47.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.88.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $43.15 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.75. The firm has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.55 and a 1-year high of $43.45. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Virtu Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Virtu Financial 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.