Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.97 Million Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 391,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,371 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Virtu Financial worth $13,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VIRT. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 439.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other Virtu Financial news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,899,669.23. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $35.55 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.13 and its 200-day moving average is $34.37. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.08 and a 52-week high of $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.