30,087 Shares in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT Purchased by Burney Co.

Burney Co. purchased a new position in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 30,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,323,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 516,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,710,000 after purchasing an additional 111,437 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 58.5% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 25.2% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 4,617 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $345,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Virtu Financial by 2.2% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 27,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE VIRT opened at $64.37 on Thursday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.55 and a twelve month high of $64.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.69.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $786.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.12 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on VIRT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $1,501,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,126,198.38. This trade represents a 41.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 46.76% of the company’s stock.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.