Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $1.57 Million Stock Position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,608 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,075,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in Virtu Financial by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $36.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.17 and a 200-day moving average of $34.47. The company has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.35 and a 52-week high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 191,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 over the last 90 days. 46.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Profile

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.