Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,628 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $3,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 258.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 96.0% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 103.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1,624.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on 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 issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $40.76 on Thursday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.55 and a 12 month high of $45.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.31. 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 (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.73. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%.The firm had revenue of $969.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $513.51 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is presently 18.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $7,776,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 326,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,697,624.80. This represents a 37.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total transaction of $1,104,727.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,524,477.54. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 270,000 shares of company stock worth $10,458,644. 47.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.