Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Trading Down 6.5% After Insider Selling

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)’s stock price dropped 6.5% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $39.70 and last traded at $39.47. Approximately 210,749 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 1,185,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.20.

Specifically, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VIRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

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 capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.09.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The company had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 243.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the first quarter worth $32,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by 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.