Zacks Research Expects Stronger Earnings for Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Virtu Financial in a research report issued on Monday, April 14th. Zacks Research analyst K. Dey now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $0.88 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.87. The consensus estimate for Virtu Financial’s current full-year earnings is $3.13 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Virtu Financial’s Q1 2027 earnings at $0.92 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $3.30 EPS.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Virtu Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.21.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $38.23 on Tuesday. Virtu Financial has a 52 week low of $20.30 and a 52 week high of $41.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.79. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total transaction of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. This trade represents a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964 in the last 90 days. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.