Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 162,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $5,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $37.58 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 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 transaction of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

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.