O Neil Global Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

O Neil Global Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 72.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,313 shares during the period. Virtu Financial makes up about 0.3% of O Neil Global Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. O Neil Global Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 439.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT opened at $37.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.46. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.17 and its 200-day moving average is $34.13. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $16.62 and a one year high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is presently 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.