Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Short Interest Down 12.8% in February

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,580,000 shares, a decrease of 12.8% from the January 31st total of 2,960,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 908,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VIRT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Five 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brucke Financial Inc. bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Virtue Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 28,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,849 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 199,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,118,000 after purchasing an additional 21,503 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial by 124.2% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 15,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 8,653 shares during the period. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Virtu Financial stock opened at $36.27 on Thursday. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $18.72 and a 52-week high of $41.38. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.18 and its 200 day moving average is $34.60. 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 (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

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.