Portolan Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 391,272 Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 391,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,918,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 48,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 244.7% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 8,803 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, Thrive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VIRT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Virtu Financial stock opened at $37.95 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $33.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $16.02 and a one year high of $38.45.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.18 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 23.22% and a net margin of 7.29%. Virtu Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 48.24%.

Virtu Financial Profile

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.