Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Sold by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 299,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,948 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $10,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction of $1,253,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at $7,070,006.64. This trade represents a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on VIRT. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five 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, Virtu Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $35.71 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.81. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.95 and a 52 week high of $41.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57.

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 net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

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.