Insider Selling: Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) EVP Sells 28,370 Shares of Stock

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total value of $1,104,727.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,524,477.54. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Stephen Cavoli also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 12th, Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.61, for a total value of $1,128,300.00.
• On Wednesday, February 11th, Stephen Cavoli sold 11,630 shares of Virtu Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.66, for a total value of $449,615.80.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.37. 1,100,187 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,285,646. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.40. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $31.55 and a one year high of $45.77. The company has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 3,460.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 258.3% in 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. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 96.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 480.6% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 103.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on VIRT. 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 research report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America upgraded Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.00.

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.