Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) COO Sells $2,688,104.28 in Stock

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $36.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.85. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $16.62 and a one year high of $41.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. Sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VIRT. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,488,000 after buying an additional 1,401,688 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $29,815,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,846,000 after buying an additional 609,821 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,696,000 after buying an additional 471,526 shares during the period. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $11,918,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.