Quarry LP Increases Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 129.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,454 shares during the quarter. Quarry LP’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 3.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,643,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,801,000 after buying an additional 124,563 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 39.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,295,000 after buying an additional 342,327 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 1.0% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 799,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,408,000 after acquiring an additional 7,721 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 1.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 745,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,296,000 after acquiring an additional 9,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 4.3% during the second quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 681,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,298,000 after acquiring an additional 28,199 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,530.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on VIRT. UBS Group raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.79.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT stock opened at $30.46 on Tuesday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.02 and a 1 year high of $32.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.98. The firm has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.23. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm had revenue of $385.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. Virtu Financial’s revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

Virtu Financial Company 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.