Moran Wealth Management LLC Makes New $245,000 Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VIRT. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 38.0% during the third 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 during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,809,000 after buying an additional 52,800 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $30,027,000 after buying an additional 183,823 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,970,000 after buying an additional 5,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth about $11,918,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VIRT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.36.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. This represents a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were 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 owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VIRT opened at $35.38 on Thursday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.72 and a 52 week high of $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.81.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 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.