Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.6667.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Virtu Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $7,776,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 326,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,697,624.80. This trade represents a 37.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total transaction of $1,104,727.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,524,477.54. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 270,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,458,644 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,999,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,987,000 after purchasing an additional 142,890 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 64.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,149,000 after acquiring an additional 926,376 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,928,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,607,000 after acquiring an additional 569,057 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,900,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,338,000 after acquiring an additional 115,612 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,514,000 after purchasing an additional 14,113 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

NYSE VIRT opened at $50.56 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.62. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $31.55 and a 52-week high of $52.21.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.58. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 51.63%. The firm had revenue of $786.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $613.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 30.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.89%.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.