Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 3,690 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,690 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 439.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 42.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $35.55 on Thursday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $41.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. Equities research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction of $1,253,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 over the last ninety days. 46.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.