Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 28.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 79.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. 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 during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the second quarter worth about $46,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $147,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,530.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VIRT. Citigroup boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Five equities 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, Virtu Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.79.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Virtu Financial stock opened at $32.55 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.02 and a 12-month high of $32.88.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.23. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 7.59%. The business had revenue of $385.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 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.