Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.25.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VIRT shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT stock opened at $41.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $21.59 and a 52-week high of $44.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.94. The company has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. Virtu Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $6,877,802.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,770,000.19. This represents a 30.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Virtu Financial by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,027,000 after acquiring an additional 183,823 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,694,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Virtu Financial by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 36,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 2,624 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 368,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,137,000 after acquiring an additional 33,730 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.