Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 3,081 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,081 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VIRT. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,049,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Virtu Financial by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 21,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 123,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 221,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,830,000 after acquiring an additional 38,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 30,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 4,638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.21 per share, for a total transaction of $810,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 584,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,468,779.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 44.80% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $22.02 on Friday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.02 and a 1-year high of $22.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $535.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.96 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 17.14%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VIRT. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $22.50 to $24.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.24.

About Virtu Financial

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.