Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Buys 183,823 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 28.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 834,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 183,823 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.54% of Virtu Financial worth $30,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the third quarter valued at about $228,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 298,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,090,000 after buying an additional 21,918 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $891,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial by 3,011.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 53,914 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 52,181 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction of $1,253,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 over the last ninety days. 46.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ VIRT traded up $0.59 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,478,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 935,706. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.62 and a 52 week high of $41.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.08. 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 (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.