Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $64.87 Million Stock Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,818,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,581 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $64,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 8,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $39.82 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. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.55 and a fifty-two week high of $41.38. The stock has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.03 and a 200-day moving average of $36.35.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $444.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,993,177.28. This represents a 43.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 496,848 shares of company stock worth $18,995,338 over the last ninety days. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on VIRT shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.88.

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.