Bridgewater Associates LP Boosts Stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) by 124.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,844 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Virtu Financial were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,971,000. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 94,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,124,000 after acquiring an additional 27,948 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $381,000. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $395,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,751,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $37.31 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $33.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.02 and a twelve month high of $38.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.03. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The firm had revenue of $388.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $379.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America dropped 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

About Virtu Financial

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.