Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 469 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 469 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % 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 worth $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $37.58 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.07 and a 12 month high of $41.38. The stock has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.10.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

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

About Virtu Financial

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.