Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 229,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,634 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.15% of Virtu Financial worth $10,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,568,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,753,000 after acquiring an additional 165,396 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,157,000 after purchasing an additional 670,774 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Virtu Financial by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,320,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,764,000 after purchasing an additional 445,586 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Virtu Financial by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,202,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,876,000 after purchasing an additional 139,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 3.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 960,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,662,000 after purchasing an additional 30,296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $35.76 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.60. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.89 and a 52-week high of $45.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.18.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $274.00 million for the quarter. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%. Equities research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Virtu Financial from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.71.

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.