New York State Teachers Retirement System Buys 2,624 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,694,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,027,000 after buying an additional 183,823 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $553,000. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $612,000. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 184,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,583,000 after acquiring an additional 57,979 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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 boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 157,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,899,669.23. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 4.5 %

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $35.39 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.27. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.62 and a 52 week high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

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.