Two Sigma Investments LP Boosts Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 834,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,304 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned 0.54% of Virtu Financial worth $29,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 176,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,295,000 after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VIRT. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America cut shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.25.

Insider Activity

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 177,561 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $6,903,571.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 231,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,993,177.28. The trade was a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 362,846 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,615 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Virtu Financial stock opened at $42.18 on Wednesday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $21.55 and a one year high of $44.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.65 and a 200 day moving average of $37.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The firm had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

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.