Leuthold Group LLC Makes New $2.87 Million Investment in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 80,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,871,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. O Neil Global Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 72.3% during the 4th quarter. O Neil Global Advisors Inc. now owns 29,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 12,313 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its position in Virtu Financial by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 13,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $437,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,694,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Virtu Financial Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of VIRT opened at $35.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.62 and a twelve month 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 fifty day simple moving average of $37.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.18.

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, research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. 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.