Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Increases Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 275,978 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 67,230 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $9,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in Virtu Financial by 3,460.0% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 712 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 258.3% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 103.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 93.7% during the 3rd quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 1,624.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 942 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of VIRT opened at $39.11 on Monday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.55 and a 12 month high of $45.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.61.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $969.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $513.51 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 48.35% and a net margin of 12.90%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIRT has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Virtu Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Virtu Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total transaction of $1,104,727.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,524,477.54. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $7,776,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 326,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,697,624.80. The trade was a 37.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 270,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,458,644 in the last ninety days. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.