By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,580,000 shares, a decrease of 12.8% from the January 31st total of 2,960,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 908,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.
Insider Activity at Virtu Financial
In other Virtu Financial 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 transaction of $1,253,920.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. This trade 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 corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VIRT shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.36.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Virtu Financial
Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.8 %
NASDAQ VIRT opened at $36.57 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.61. Virtu Financial has a one year low of $18.72 and a one year high of $41.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Virtu Financial Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Virtu Financial’s 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.
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