Foundry Partners LLC Sells 4,743 Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Foundry Partners LLC lessened its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,743 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT opened at $35.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.15 and a 12 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.53.

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 return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. On average, research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 32.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % 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 worth $5,213,964 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

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.