OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Takes Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 13,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,371 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $954,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 310,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,088,000 after buying an additional 55,102 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake 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. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $41.45 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.55 and a 1 year high of $44.58. 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 50 day simple moving average of $38.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.17.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,306 shares in the company, valued at $8,993,177.28. This trade represents a 43.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 396,846 shares of company stock worth $15,351,555 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a 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. Bank of America downgraded Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.25.

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.