Inspire Investing LLC Buys Shares of 27,148 Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 27,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $827,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Virtu Financial by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares in the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $238,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 149.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $147,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,530.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $32.70 on Tuesday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $16.02 and a one year high of $32.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.76 and a 200-day moving average of $25.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $385.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.92 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 7.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on VIRT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.79.

Virtu Financial 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.