Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 1,608 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 3,011.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 53,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 52,181 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 88.2% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 62,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,931,000 after buying an additional 29,385 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 34,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,042,000 after buying an additional 6,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1,180.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 35,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,075,000 after buying an additional 32,524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have 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 target price 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. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $36.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.17 and its 200 day moving average is $34.47. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.35 and a 12 month high of $41.38.

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, 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 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.