Natixis Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $344,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 11,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 108,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,864,000 after purchasing an additional 5,679 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $383,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,534,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $37.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.28. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.15 and a 12 month high of $41.38.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.36.

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.