Fmr LLC Increases Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Fmr LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 38.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,974,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,368,419 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $151,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth about $33,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 21.0% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 22.2% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on VIRT shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $37.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.43. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.02 and a 52-week high of $38.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.91.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $379.18 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.24%.

About Virtu Financial

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.