Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 869 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,696,000 after buying an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,993,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,809,000 after buying an additional 52,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VIRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares in the company, valued at $15,770,000.19. This trade represents a 30.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 1.6%

VIRT stock opened at $42.61 on Thursday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.59 and a 12-month high of $44.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.07.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The company’s revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

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.