Barclays PLC Acquires 20,843 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 20,843 shares during the period. Barclays PLC's holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 22.2% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 149.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 42.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 129.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VIRT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.21.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 6.4 %

NASDAQ:VIRT traded down $2.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $34.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,046,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.02 and a fifty-two week high of $38.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.45. The business's fifty day moving average is $35.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.60.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.18 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 23.22%. Virtu Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.24%.

About Virtu Financial

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.