50,000 Shares in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Acquired by Cibc World Markets Corp

Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 50,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,020,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VIRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 8.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 186,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,935,000 after purchasing an additional 13,965 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Virtu Financial by 7.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 762,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,393,000 after acquiring an additional 55,491 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $220,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its position in Virtu Financial by 48.7% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 13,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,275 shares in the last quarter. 50.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu bought 50,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $842,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 452,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,631,482.95. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.10% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $18.10 on Monday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.26 and a 1 year high of $26.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.09. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $373.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.19 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.30%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Virtu Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. TheStreet lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.29.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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Virtu Financial, Inc engages in the provision of market making and liquidity services. It operates through the following segments: Market Making, Execution Services and Corporate. The Market Making segment engages in the buying and selling of securities and other financial instruments. The Execution Services segment agency offers trading venues that provide transparent trading in global equities, ETFs, and fixed income to institutions, banks and broker dealers.