Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Position Reduced by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 32.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 809,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 386,187 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.52% of Virtu Financial worth $28,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 38.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,974,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,419 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $29,815,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,027,000 after purchasing an additional 183,823 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $11,918,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VIRT. Morgan Stanley increased 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.36.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. This trade represents a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $36.61 on Friday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.72 and a 12 month high of $41.38. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $37.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.70. The company has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. 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.