Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Releases Earnings Results

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $687.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Virtu Financial’s conference call:

• Record profitability: Virtu reported second-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $437 million, a 61% margin, and adjusted EPS of $1.82. Trailing-12-month adjusted net trading income, EBITDA, and EPS all reached company records.
• Trading capital expanded significantly to $3.4 billion from $2 billion a year ago, supported by retained earnings and a $500 million term-loan increase. Management said the capital is being actively deployed across attractive market opportunities while maintaining the $0.24 quarterly dividend.
• Virtu said its growth investments in technology, compute, infrastructure, and talent are progressing, with hiring focused broadly on quants, researchers, traders, engineers, and developers. Management highlighted multi-year-low attrition and expects aggressive hiring to continue for at least the next couple of years.
• The company described opportunity as broad-based, with global equities, retail, proprietary trading, crypto, options, block ETFs, and Execution Services contributing to performance. Management also said it is prepared to support emerging products such as regulated perpetual futures as they become more liquid and tradable.
• Cash compensation was 23% of revenue year to date, within the company’s targeted low-to-mid-20% range, while total compensation was 28%. Executives said compensation may remain elevated as Virtu invests in talent, but emphasized that the current level is consistent with guidance.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT stock traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.25. The stock had a trading volume of 582,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,758. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.58. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $31.55 and a 52-week high of $68.02.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $1,501,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at $2,126,198.38. This represents a 41.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 46.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 480.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 836 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 103.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 51.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 1,624.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $39.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.50.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.