Prudential Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 43.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 84,986 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.07% of Virtu Financial worth $3,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VIRT. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 73,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,617,000 after buying an additional 14,490 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,242,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 319,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,409,000 after purchasing an additional 14,975 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 533.4% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 73,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,584,000 after purchasing an additional 61,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $3,416,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $7,070,006.64. This represents a 15.06 % decrease in their position. 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 owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.21.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

VIRT traded down $2.30 on Friday, hitting $35.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,208,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,170,075. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.15 and a 12 month high of $41.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $37.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.58.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 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%. Analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is 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.