Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 83.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77,908 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VIRT. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,488,000 after buying an additional 1,401,688 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 609,821 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,196,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $12,018,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.3% in 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 during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $38.46 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.00. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.92 and a twelve month high of $41.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction 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 approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $1,271,940.00. Following the sale, 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 sold a total of 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VIRT shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective 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 cut Virtu Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.21.

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.