KCG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: KCG)

[orangetea]

"KCG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: KCG) is an American global financial services firm engaging in market making, high-frequency trading, electronic execution, and institutional sales and trading. The company was formed in July 2013 as a result of the merger between Getco LLC and Knight Capital Group."

[orangetea]

Knight Capital Group (NYSE:KCG) CEO Daniel Coleman purchased 805,000 shares of Knight Capital Group stock on the open market in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.04 per share, for a total transaction of $8,887,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,152,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.
A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KCG shares. Analysts at Zacks downgraded shares of Knight Capital Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday. They now have a $13.10 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Knight Capital Group from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, December 12th. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.42.
Shares of Knight Capital Group (NYSE:KCG) opened at 11.08 on Wednesday. Knight Capital Group has a one year low of $8.11 and a one year high of $12.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.73 and a 200-day moving average of $9.86. The company has a market cap of $1.357 billion and a P/E ratio of 2.02.

[orangetea]

High Frequency trading (HFT) got hit as legislators are looking to sue them for manipulation.

http://m.smh.com.au/business/us-city-pro...36yn2.html

However whether these HFT did manipulate market is well argues in this site below.

http://m.nakedcapitalism.com/nakedcapita...4162d77ee3

The piece of good news for KGC is the debt repayments made over the past year and recently earlier this month which is a boost of confidence.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kcg-ann...2014-04-15

(Recently Vested Again.)

[kikababoo]

High Frequency trading (HFT) got hit as legislators are looking to sue them for manipulation.

http://m.smh.com.au/business/us-city-pro...36yn2.html

However whether these HFT did manipulate market is well argues in this site below.

http://m.nakedcapitalism.com/nakedcapita...4162d77ee3

The piece of good news for KGC is the debt repayments made over the past year and recently earlier this month which is a boost of confidence.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kcg-ann...2014-04-15

(Recently Vested Again.)

damn. even though im rooting for flash boys but i hold shares in leucadia. sobz.

[orangetea]

damn. even though im rooting for flash boys but i hold shares in leucadia. sobz.

Replied you in new thread.

Thanks for this company.

Cheers!

[orangetea]

KCG Holdings Results Easily Top Expectations

KCG Posts $35.7 Million Profit, Helped By Higher Revenue From Trading Operations

By Timothy W. Martin And Bradley Hope
Updated May 2, 2014 3:57 p.m. ET

KCG Holdings Inc. KCG +5.04% —formed last year when high-frequency trading firm Getco Holding Co. bought Knight Capital Group—posted first-quarter profit that topped analyst forecasts, and executives spent much of their earnings conference call stressing the fairness of U.S. markets.

The high-frequency trading business has been on the defensive over the past month, after a new book, "Flash Boys," by Michael Lewis, alleged that exchanges, banks and high-frequency traders had "rigged" the markets. State and federal investigators have launched investigations.

High-frequency traders use powerful computers to zip in and out of markets, earning tiny profits on hundreds of thousands of transactions a day.

KCG, based in Jersey City, N.J., saw its share price hobbled over the past month, down about 14% since the book was published on April 1.

Friday brought some welcome news to shareholders, as KCG's first-quarter earnings of $35.7 million, or 30 cents a share, were nearly double Wall Street forecasts. Revenue came in at $383.7 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters projected earnings of 17 cents a share and revenue of $342 million.

In Friday afternoon trading, KCG shares were up 4.4% at $10.76, easing from an earlier session peak of $11.41, struck at the open.

The strong results at KCG were driven by tighter expense controls, a bounce back in trading volumes and successful direct-to-client market making.

During the call, KCG Chief Executive Daniel Coleman said the company is providing U.S. securities regulators information. While it remains unclear how trading may change, Mr. Coleman said, "the fundamental role we play in the markets will not."

The Securities Exchange Commission said this week it is examining whether traders using rapid-fire trading have an unfair advantage. That review includes firms such as KCG that execute ultrafast trades on behalf of retail and institutional investors.

SEC Chairman Mary Jo White testified before a House committee on Tuesday, but stopped short of saying the world of high-speed trading has created an unlevel playing field in the markets.

Mr. Coleman, who previously led Getco, said the intermediary role his firm provides among buyers and sellers has existed for hundreds of years.

"Little changes can have big impacts," Mr. Coleman said. He prefers "little changes here and there," he said, because the system powering the U.S. equity market is "a very delicate ecosystem."

Mr. Coleman identified several areas he felt should go under review, such as fee structures, market-maker obligations and certain disclosures to alternative trading systems, such as the dark pools.

"No market is perfect," Mr. Coleman said. "I imagine the SEC is going to be very deliberate as they make changes and see how they impact the markets."

As for KCG's first quarter, Niamh Alexander, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said, "Trading revenue drove the entire revenue beat."

The revenue that KCG takes in for each dollar traded—a measure called "revenue capture"—also swelled to 1.26 basis points per dollar, up from 0.98 in the previous quarter. A basis point is 1/100 of a percent.

Trading revenue in the first quarter rose 21% to $258.3 million from the fourth quarter.

A year ago, KCG reported first-quarter earnings of $22.3 million, or 6 cents a share. Revenue was $199.6 million. KCG now has about one-third of the diluted shares outstanding compared with the first quarter of 2013.

Getco, which was based in Chicago, acquired Knight Capital Group Inc. in July 2013 for $1.4 billion. The deal came after Knight lost $461 million because of a trading error in 2012.

Results from before the third quarter of last year reflect only the results of Getco before the merger with Knight Capital.

The company said it made $50 million in principal prepayments on a $535 million loan during the quarter, repaying it in full.

As of March 31, KCG had about $651.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, and its total outstanding debt was about $472.3 million. KCG also said Friday it had authorized a $150 million stock-buyback program.