17,573 Shares in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Purchased by Scientech Research LLC

Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 17,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 3.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,643,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,801,000 after buying an additional 124,563 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,295,000 after acquiring an additional 342,327 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 799,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,408,000 after acquiring an additional 7,721 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 745,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,296,000 after acquiring an additional 9,826 shares during the period. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 681,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,298,000 after purchasing an additional 28,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on VIRT. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.36.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $30.96 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.90. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.02 and a fifty-two week high of $32.88.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.23. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 7.59%. The business had revenue of $385.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $658,530.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

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.