QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 549 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 549 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 439.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $1,271,940.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Virtu Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

VIRT opened at $36.47 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.50. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.46 and a 1-year high of $41.38. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 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.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 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.