Virtu Financial, Inc. VIRT recently announced that in the first quarter of 2021, its request-for-quote or RFQ-hub has surpassed the prior-quarter’s record in single stock options by a whopping 37%.

The bilateral multi-asset and multi-dealer request for quote platform delivered solid national trading numbers for the first quarter, which came in at $29.7 billion. In this regard, asset managers are opting for a RFQ-hub to negotiate derivatives transactions owing to their liquidity, transparency, operational efficacy, audit trail, etc.

Customers are benefiting from agile, enhanced solutions to cope with the evolving digital environment. This latest milestone makes RFQ-hub a leading platform for supporting electronic derivatives trading. It helps streamlining workflow while providing liquidity with better pricing.

The RFQ-hub is focused on equity, and fixed income-listed and OTC derivatives plus structured products and ETFs. Integrated metrics offer insight and audit reporting for regulatory and compliance obligations.
This is the second landmark achieved by the platform this year. Earlier, the RFQ-hub attained two record environmental social and governance (ESG) options trades worth $332 million and $1.67 billion, respectively.

In February, EliData, a leading trading and order routing software provider integrated its C-RFQ solution with VirtuFinancial’s RFQ-hub to upgrade its liquidity provider experience.

The COVID-led market volatility contributed to the company’s overall solid performance, which gains traction from market unpredictability.

This apart, strength in its Execution Services and Market Making segments aided the overall upside. In the last reported quarter, the company’s revenues of $728 million beat the consensus mark by 32.1%, driven by higher trading volumes in its U.S. equities despite lower volatility.

Shares of this presently Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 25.3% in a year’s time, outperforming its industry’s growth of 25.1%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Other companies in the same space, namely PRA Group, Inc. PRAA, Houlihan Lokey, Inc. HLI and TCG BDC, Inc. CGBD have also rallied 18%, 8.1% and 71.1%, respectively, in the same time frame.

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PRA Group, Inc. (PRAA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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