Wells Fargo & Company MN Acquires 131,591 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 518,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 131,591 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.34% of Virtu Financial worth $18,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several 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 worth about $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the fourth 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 approximately $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VIRT. Bank of America reduced 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Virtu Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.21.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of Virtu Financial stock traded up $0.66 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.46. 1,170,164 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,192,250. The stock has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95, a PEG 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. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.44 and a 52 week high of $41.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $36.69 and its 200-day moving average is $35.93.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Research analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial's payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at $7,070,006.64. This represents a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 over the last three months. Insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

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.