Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT Shares Acquired by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 119,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,100 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $4,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Virtu Financial by 96.0% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 3,460.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 258.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 103.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 1,624.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.61, for a total transaction of $1,128,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 174,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,565,239.21. The trade was a 14.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $7,776,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 326,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,697,624.80. This represents a 37.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 270,000 shares of company stock worth $10,458,644. Insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on VIRT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $41.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.55 and a 1 year high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $969.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $513.51 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.71%.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: VIRT) is a leading global electronic trading firm specializing in market making, liquidity provision and trade execution services across a broad range of asset classes. Leveraging advanced quantitative models and proprietary trading technology, Virtu provides continuous bid and ask quotes in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and digital assets. The firm’s infrastructure is designed to operate at high speeds and low latencies, enabling tight spreads and efficient price discovery for its clients.

In addition to its market-making activities, Virtu offers agency execution services, algorithmic trading strategies and transaction cost analysis tools.