SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Holdings in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 1,814.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,786 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $2,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VIRT. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 9.1% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth about $86,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 320,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,383,000 after purchasing an additional 41,474 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 139.4% during the third quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 8,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 4,776 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $34.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.45. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.55 and a twelve month high of $45.77.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $467.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $422.92 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIRT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.71.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: VIRT) is a leading global electronic trading firm specializing in market making, liquidity provision and trade execution services across a broad range of asset classes. Leveraging advanced quantitative models and proprietary trading technology, Virtu provides continuous bid and ask quotes in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and digital assets. The firm’s infrastructure is designed to operate at high speeds and low latencies, enabling tight spreads and efficient price discovery for its clients.

In addition to its market-making activities, Virtu offers agency execution services, algorithmic trading strategies and transaction cost analysis tools.