Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 21,193 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 19.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,193 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Virtu Financial worth $4,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VIRT. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 170.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 555,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,890,000 after buying an additional 350,401 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,183,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,373,000 after buying an additional 222,862 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the second quarter worth $7,490,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.2% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,202,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,876,000 after acquiring an additional 139,836 shares during the period. Finally, HRT Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the second quarter valued at $4,940,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $39.51 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.55 and a 52 week high of $45.77.

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

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 18.71%.

Virtu Financial 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.