Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 52,800 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.67% of Virtu Financial worth $36,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 439.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.36.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.56. 1,493,660 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 982,281. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.35 and a twelve month high of $41.38. The company has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $37.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.38.

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, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

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.