Old West Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Old West Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 672,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial accounts for approximately 9.7% of Old West Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Old West Investment Management LLC owned 0.43% of Virtu Financial worth $23,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 470.3% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 72,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,205,000 after buying an additional 59,695 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Virtu Financial by 15.0% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 102,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 13,411 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth about $743,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 44.1% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 27,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 8,526 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VIRT. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.21.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $35.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.15 and a twelve month high of $41.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.41 and its 200 day moving average is $35.53.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,899,669.23. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

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.