Atria Investments Inc Buys 5,377 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 50.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,377 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Virtu Financial Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $35.71 on Friday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.95 and a 52-week high of $41.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % 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 over the last 90 days. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.36.

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.