Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Hits New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $37.00 and last traded at $36.96, with a volume of 304179 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.94.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.50.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.7 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $32.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.01. The company has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $388.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.18 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. FMR LLC increased its position in Virtu Financial by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,974,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368,419 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,815,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,751,000. Portolan Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,918,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 39.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,295,000 after purchasing an additional 342,327 shares during the period. 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.