Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 38,409 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank trimmed its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 49.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,409 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 38.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,974,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,419 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,809,000 after purchasing an additional 52,800 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,027,000 after purchasing an additional 183,823 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $11,918,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIRT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of 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, Virtu Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $36.30 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.99. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.06 and a 12-month high of $41.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.58. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

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.