Barclays PLC Increases Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 185.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 103,169 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.10% of Virtu Financial worth $5,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

VIRT traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $39.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,218,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,188,846. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.27. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.38 and a 1 year high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $444.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. This represents a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,993,177.28. This represents a 43.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 496,848 shares of company stock valued at $18,995,338 over the last 90 days. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on VIRT. 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. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.88.

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.