Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Sells 32,524 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lowered its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 92.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,524 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $98,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $37.72 on Friday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.06 and a 1 year high of $41.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.