Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 6,578 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 616,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,578 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of Virtu Financial worth $13,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 43.9% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 19,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 6,076 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,123,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,760,000 after purchasing an additional 86,313 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 518.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 57,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 47,816 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,868,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,851,000 after buying an additional 92,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,575,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 46.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $32.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.93. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.38. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.02 and a twelve month high of $32.22.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.23. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 22.74%. The company had revenue of $385.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Virtu Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VIRT. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.36.

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.