Peregrine Capital Management LLC Acquires 3,775 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 290,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,775 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Virtu Financial worth $6,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $12,575,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,751,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Virtu Financial by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,295,000 after acquiring an additional 342,327 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,050,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,349,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,530.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.36.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.71. 1,678,074 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,272,375. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.93. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.02 and a 1 year high of $30.99.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.23. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company had revenue of $385.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Virtu Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

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.