Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) Stock to Pay Quarterly Dividend of $0.24

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share on Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st.

Virtu Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 23.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Virtu Financial to earn $6.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.2%.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $53.99 on Friday. Virtu Financial has a 1 year low of $31.55 and a 1 year high of $68.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.88 and a 200 day moving average of $52.34.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.25. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 49.06% and a net margin of 13.50%. The firm had revenue of $956.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $647.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Virtu Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 147.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Virtu Financial news, Director John Nixon sold 9,094 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total transaction of $546,822.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,137.26. This represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph J. Grano, Jr. sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $511,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,060,625.16. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 46.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 35,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 23,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 6,809 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $552,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 134,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,409,000 after purchasing an additional 46,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 27,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc is a global financial services company that provides liquidity, trading, and technology solutions to the financial markets. Through its market-making business, Virtu facilitates trading in a broad range of products, including equities, exchange-traded funds, options, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities, and certain digital assets.

The company also operates an execution services business that provides trading and workflow technology to institutional investors, asset managers, broker-dealers, and other financial institutions.