Barclays PLC Raises Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 55,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,843 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 149.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 42.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 129.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 3,454 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $34.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.45. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.02 and a twelve month high of $38.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.18 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The business’s revenue was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIRT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America dropped 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.21.

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.