Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) by 65.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 247,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 97,697 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.16% of Virtu Financial worth $8,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth about $33,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 149.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 22.2% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.
VIRT stock opened at $35.41 on Monday. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.02 and a 1-year high of $38.45. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $34.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.43.
Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.18 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.24%.
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.50.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on VIRT
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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