Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Receives $43.00 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

VIRT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised 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 note on Tuesday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $39.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61. Virtu Financial has a twelve month low of $31.55 and a twelve month high of $45.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $36.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.42.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $969.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $513.51 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%.Virtu Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.61, for a total value of $1,128,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 174,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,565,239.21. The trade was a 14.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 70,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,644 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 3,460.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 258.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 96.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 480.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 103.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

About Virtu Financial

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.