Cerity Partners LLC Grows Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 392 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,070,006.64. This trade 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. 46.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of VIRT opened at $37.16 on Tuesday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.92 and a fifty-two week high of $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.70 and its 200 day moving average is $36.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of 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 upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.