Wellington Management Group LLP Buys New Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 26,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $954,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,846,000 after buying an additional 609,821 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $12,196,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $12,018,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,027,000 after purchasing an additional 183,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 538.4% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 193,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,915,000 after purchasing an additional 163,454 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Virtu Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.21.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $37.03 on Monday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.30 and a 52-week high of $41.38. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $36.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.74. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. On average, research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.