Insider Selling: Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) COO Sells 72,967 Shares of Stock

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

VIRT opened at $36.77 on Friday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.62 and a 12-month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.89.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 30.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 19,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,620 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 23,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 298,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,090,000 after purchasing an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.