Public Sector Pension Investment Board Buys 35,649 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 11.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 351,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,649 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $12,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 45,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,845 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 3.9% in the third quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 41,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,545 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 23.5% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 12,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 0.6% during the third quarter. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 151,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,394,000 after acquiring an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 480.8% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 2,798 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.61, for a total transaction of $1,128,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 174,561 shares in the company, valued at $6,565,239.21. The trade was a 14.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $38.38 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.55 and a 1 year high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.73. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The business had revenue of $969.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $513.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: VIRT) is a leading global electronic trading firm specializing in market making, liquidity provision and trade execution services across a broad range of asset classes. Leveraging advanced quantitative models and proprietary trading technology, Virtu provides continuous bid and ask quotes in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and digital assets. The firm’s infrastructure is designed to operate at high speeds and low latencies, enabling tight spreads and efficient price discovery for its clients.

In addition to its market-making activities, Virtu offers agency execution services, algorithmic trading strategies and transaction cost analysis tools.