22,881 Shares in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Bought by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 22,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $816,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VIRT. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 38.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,974,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368,419 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the third quarter valued at about $29,815,000. Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the third quarter valued at about $11,918,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 400.0% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 328,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,008,000 after acquiring an additional 262,835 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,027,000 after acquiring an additional 183,823 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial 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 owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,688,104.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $36.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.72 and a twelve month high of $41.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.60.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.