Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 191,364 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 31.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 425,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 191,364 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $12,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,643,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,801,000 after purchasing an additional 124,563 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,295,000 after acquiring an additional 342,327 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,815,000. Old West Investment Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 28,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,751,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

VIRT opened at $36.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.38. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.02 and a 52-week high of $37.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $32.49 and its 200-day moving average is $28.07.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.03. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 23.22% and a net margin of 7.29%. The company had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Virtu Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VIRT. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

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.