Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Short Interest Down 19.3% in September

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,050,000 shares, a drop of 19.3% from the September 15th total of 2,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP increased its position in Virtu Financial by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth $247,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its position in Virtu Financial by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 135,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,786,000 after buying an additional 9,035 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 340,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Virtu Financial Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Virtu Financial stock traded up $0.38 on Tuesday, reaching $33.08. 340,318 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,288,385. Virtu Financial has a one year low of $16.02 and a one year high of $33.21. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.76 and a 200 day moving average of $25.82.

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

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.13%.

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.