Old West Investment Management LLC Has $23.99 Million Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Old West Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 672,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,800 shares during the period. Virtu Financial accounts for about 9.7% of Old West Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Old West Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $23,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,899,669.23. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VIRT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.21.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $35.10 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.53. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.15 and a fifty-two week high of $41.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. On average, analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Virtu Financial 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.