Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 516,366 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,437 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $22,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 480.6% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 836 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 51.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 93.7% in the third quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $1,501,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at $2,126,198.38. The trade was a 41.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 46.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.67.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VIRT opened at $61.75 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $31.55 and a one year high of $64.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $786.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.12 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 51.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 15.89%.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.