Advisory Services Network LLC Makes New $387,000 Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 10,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 542,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,358,000 after purchasing an additional 22,644 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 802,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,629,000 after buying an additional 82,396 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,401,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 98,524 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,515,000 after acquiring an additional 4,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,899,669.23. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964 over the last 90 days. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VIRT. Bank of America lowered their target price on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Virtu Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.21.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT traded up $1.43 on Tuesday, hitting $38.59. 879,613 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,191,818. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $36.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.05. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.92 and a 1-year high of $41.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

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.