Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,416 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.14% of Virtu Financial worth $6,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VIRT. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,149,000 after purchasing an additional 926,376 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $22,377,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $19,102,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,549,000 after purchasing an additional 474,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 457.9% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 337,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,987,000 after purchasing an additional 277,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT stock opened at $52.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.51. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.55 and a 1 year high of $56.48.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $786.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.12 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.Virtu Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VIRT. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.67.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $1,501,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 42,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,126,198.38. This trade represents a 41.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 46.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Virtu Financial 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.