Bank of America Lowers Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target to $48.00

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Bank of America from $56.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 21.15% from the company’s current price.

VIRT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.21.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

VIRT stock traded up $1.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $39.62. The stock had a trading volume of 279,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,164,361. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.48. Virtu Financial has a fifty-two week low of $20.15 and a fifty-two week high of $41.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,899,669.23. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.