Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Decreases Stock Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lowered its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 92.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,524 shares during the quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $98,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 38.0% in the 3rd 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 lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,809,000 after purchasing an additional 52,800 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 28.3% in the 4th 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 stake in Virtu Financial by 1.4% in the 4th 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 Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $11,918,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $37.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.58. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.06 and a 12 month high of $41.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.12 and its 200 day moving average is $35.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued 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 net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,899,669.23. This represents a 17.74 % 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 worth $5,213,964 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.