Arizona State Retirement System Sells 835 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 835 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 236.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 123.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 8,400.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.21 per share, with a total value of $810,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 584,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,468,779.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 44.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $21.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.18 and its 200-day moving average is $18.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.46. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.02 and a 52 week high of $21.58.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.13). Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 6.22%. The firm had revenue of $535.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.75.

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.