Virtu Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 168,856 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 168,856 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,587,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,723 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 13,270 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,848 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,479 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Glj Research lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.43.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of CLF stock opened at $9.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 1.94. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.50 and a twelve month high of $22.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.29.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 543,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,874,964.75. This represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John T. Baldwin acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at $1,159,074.90. This trade represents a 3.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017.