Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $179,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial by 112.3% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Virtu Financial by 21.0% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 55.3% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VIRT. StockNews.com raised Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.36.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT traded up $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.85. The company had a trading volume of 328,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,287,848. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.02 and a 52 week high of $30.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.05. The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $385.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.92 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 22.74%. Virtu Financial’s revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. Analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 67.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,530.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial 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.