USA Financial Formulas Reduces Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

USA Financial Formulas lessened its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 92.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,237 shares during the quarter. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $32,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,488,000 after buying an additional 1,401,688 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $39,993,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 180.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,846,000 after buying an additional 609,821 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,696,000 after buying an additional 471,526 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $12,196,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $40.73 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.91. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.59 and a 12-month high of $44.58.

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

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $6,877,802.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 408,867 shares in the company, valued at $15,770,000.19. This trade represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

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.