Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Short Interest Update

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,580,000 shares, a decrease of 12.8% from the January 31st total of 2,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 908,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company's shares are short sold.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT traded down $1.51 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $35.10. 1,167,502 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,001,918. Virtu Financial has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $41.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.74. 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 has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57.

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

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Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business'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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,899,669.23. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VIRT. FMR LLC grew its position in Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $227,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,688 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $39,993,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $29,815,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 180.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,846,000 after acquiring an additional 609,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,696,000 after purchasing an additional 471,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Company 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.