11,243 Shares in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Purchased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on VIRT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.36.

Remove Ads

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 corporate insiders.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:VIRT traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $38.12. 767,243 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,167,142. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57. 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 12-month low of $20.15 and a 12-month high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.