Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 21,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 38.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,974,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,511,000 after buying an additional 1,368,419 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter valued at $29,815,000. Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter valued at $11,918,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 400.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 328,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,008,000 after buying an additional 262,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,027,000 after buying an additional 183,823 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 3.0 %

Virtu Financial stock opened at $36.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.38. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.35 and a 52 week high of $41.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

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.