Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Reduces Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC reduced its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 565,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 41,308 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 0.36% of Virtu Financial worth $17,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth $33,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the second quarter worth $39,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Virtu Financial by 55.3% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 21.0% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of VIRT opened at $31.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.84. The stock has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.38. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.02 and a 12 month high of $33.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $379.18 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 23.22% and a net margin of 7.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Sunday, December 1st. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 48.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VIRT shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.50.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,530.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.