Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $50.93 and last traded at $50.7680, with a volume of 2000726 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.43.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.17.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.73. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 48.35% and a net margin of 12.90%.The business had revenue of $969.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $513.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is presently 18.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $7,776,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 326,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,697,624.80. The trade was a 37.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total value of $1,104,727.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,524,477.54. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 270,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,458,644 over the last three months. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 8,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.