Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target Raised to $36.00

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Virtu Financial from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.71.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VIRT opened at $37.13 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.51 and a 200 day moving average of $37.07. The company has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. Virtu Financial has a 12 month low of $31.55 and a 12 month high of $45.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $467.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $422.92 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 20.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 64.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,149,000 after purchasing an additional 926,376 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $19,102,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 53.1% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,549,000 after buying an additional 474,177 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 170.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 555,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,890,000 after purchasing an additional 350,401 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 457.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 337,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,987,000 after buying an additional 277,133 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: VIRT) is a leading global electronic trading firm specializing in market making, liquidity provision and trade execution services across a broad range of asset classes. Leveraging advanced quantitative models and proprietary trading technology, Virtu provides continuous bid and ask quotes in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and digital assets. The firm’s infrastructure is designed to operate at high speeds and low latencies, enabling tight spreads and efficient price discovery for its clients.

In addition to its market-making activities, Virtu offers agency execution services, algorithmic trading strategies and transaction cost analysis tools.