Stephen Cavoli Sells 28,370 Shares of Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Stock

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total value of $1,104,727.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,524,477.54. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Stephen Cavoli also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 12th, Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.61, for a total value of $1,128,300.00.
• On Wednesday, February 11th, Stephen Cavoli sold 11,630 shares of Virtu Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.66, for a total transaction of $449,615.80.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $39.34 on Friday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.55 and a 52-week high of $45.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.42.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.73. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The company had revenue of $969.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $513.51 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VIRT. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 0.8% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 8,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 96.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: VIRT) is a leading global electronic trading firm specializing in market making, liquidity provision and trade execution services across a broad range of asset classes. Leveraging advanced quantitative models and proprietary trading technology, Virtu provides continuous bid and ask quotes in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and digital assets. The firm’s infrastructure is designed to operate at high speeds and low latencies, enabling tight spreads and efficient price discovery for its clients.

In addition to its market-making activities, Virtu offers agency execution services, algorithmic trading strategies and transaction cost analysis tools.