Short Interest in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) Drops By 13.3%

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,184,378 shares, a decrease of 13.3% from the February 26th total of 3,671,875 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,002,147 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Virtu Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded Virtu Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.00.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NYSE VIRT opened at $44.03 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Virtu Financial has a 12-month low of $31.55 and a 12-month high of $45.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.61.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.73. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 48.35% and a net margin of 12.90%.The company had revenue of $969.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $513.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 18.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $7,776,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 326,585 shares in the company, valued at $12,697,624.80. The trade was a 37.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.61, for a total transaction of $1,128,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 174,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,565,239.21. The trade was a 14.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 270,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,458,644. 46.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 8,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.