Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Boosts Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 180.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 948,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 609,821 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $33,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 734.9% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 93,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,902,000 after buying an additional 82,515 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,368,419 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 470.3% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 72,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,205,000 after acquiring an additional 59,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $640,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.9 %

Virtu Financial stock opened at $39.30 on Thursday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.15 and a 12 month high of $41.38. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.50. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964 in the last three months. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VIRT. Bank of America lowered their target price on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Five 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.21.

Virtu Financial 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.