Invesco Ltd. Increases Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 802,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,396 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $28,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Virtu Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.21.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Virtu Financial stock opened at $38.46 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.88. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.35 and a 52 week high of $41.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,899,669.23. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964 in the last quarter. 46.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.