Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 44,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $999,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 79.9% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 112.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of VIRT opened at $30.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.39. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.02 and a 52 week high of $30.99. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $26.25 and a 200-day moving average of $22.72.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $147,420.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $658,530.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.36.

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.