Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) COO Brett Fairclough Sells 72,967 Shares

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the company’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 value of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $36.77 on Friday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.62 and a twelve month high of $41.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.85.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.01 earnings per share 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 given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.