Joseph Molluso Sells 200,000 Shares of Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Stock

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $7,776,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 326,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,697,624.80. The trade was a 37.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Virtu Financial stock opened at $39.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.55 and a 1 year high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $513.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIRT. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $1,109,000. Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 842.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 61,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 54,668 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 90,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,202,000 after purchasing an additional 33,762 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,183,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,373,000 after purchasing an additional 222,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 114,887.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 26,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 26,424 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Virtu Financial

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.