9,644 Shares in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Acquired by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,644 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,809,000 after buying an additional 52,800 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,027,000 after acquiring an additional 183,823 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,371 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 368,191 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,137,000 after purchasing an additional 33,730 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 358,065 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,907,000 after purchasing an additional 117,062 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded Virtu Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.21.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ VIRT traded up $1.49 on Friday, reaching $37.03. 989,920 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,183,522. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.30 and a 12 month high of $41.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. As a group, research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

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.