IHT Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 9,971 Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

IHT Wealth Management LLC bought 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 (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,971 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares of the company's stock, 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 through this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

VIRT stock opened at $38.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.19. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.

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