HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 5,679 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,679 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Virtu Financial worth $3,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $383,000. AGF Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,534,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $245,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 2,749.7% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,261,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $37.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.12 and a 200 day moving average of $35.02. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.06 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.58.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. On average, research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value 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 $5,899,669.23. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.