HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 108,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,679 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $3,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,974,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,419 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $11,918,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $12,196,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 328,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,008,000 after purchasing an additional 262,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,027,000 after acquiring an additional 183,823 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $37.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.02. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.06 and a twelve month high of $41.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.58.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Equities research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.36.

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.