Arizona State Retirement System Has $893,000 Stock Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 625 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth $54,000. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 528.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,676 shares during the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $210,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Virtu Financial stock opened at $44.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.27. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $26.50 and a one year high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $444.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Virtu Financial’s revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VIRT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded 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, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.13.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 231,306 shares in the company, valued at $8,993,177.28. The trade was a 43.43% 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 link. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615 in the last quarter. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.