Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 14,225 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 320,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,225 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Virtu Financial worth $11,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 8,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VIRT opened at $41.45 on Monday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.55 and a 12-month high of $44.58. 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 company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.17.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The business had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. Virtu Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VIRT. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $6,877,802.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 408,867 shares in the company, valued at $15,770,000.19. This trade represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 396,846 shares of company stock worth $15,351,555. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

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.