Voya Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 822 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIRT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $6,877,802.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 408,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,770,000.19. This trade represents a 30.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at $7,070,006.64. This represents a 15.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 496,848 shares of company stock worth $18,995,338 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $43.15 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.79. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.55 and a twelve month high of $43.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $444.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.75%.

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.