Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Pass Below Fifty Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)’s share price passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.42 and traded as low as $33.30. Virtu Financial shares last traded at $33.5610, with a volume of 782,347 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on VIRT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Virtu Financial from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.71.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.55.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $274.00 million for the quarter. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 20.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 3,460.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 258.3% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Virtu Financial by 96.0% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 243.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 103.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 387 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.