Great Lakes Advisors LLC Grows Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. FMR LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 38.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,974,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,511,000 after buying an additional 1,368,419 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,809,000 after acquiring an additional 52,800 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,027,000 after purchasing an additional 183,823 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $11,918,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VIRT opened at $35.71 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.06 and a 1 year high of $41.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.91.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on VIRT shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.36.

Insider Activity 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 transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % 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. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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. Over the last quarter, 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.