Hancock Whitney Corp Invests $1.31 Million in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Hancock Whitney Corp acquired a new position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 36,797 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,313,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 8,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 2.7% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of Virtu Financial stock traded up $0.84 on Monday, hitting $39.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,218,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,188,846. The company has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.27.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Virtu Financial's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend 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 Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at $7,070,006.64. This represents a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 496,848 shares of company stock valued at $18,995,338 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on VIRT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.88.

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.