Analysts Set Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) PT at $44.00

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.00.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Virtu Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Virtu Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total transaction of $7,776,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 326,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,697,624.80. The trade was a 37.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total transaction of $1,104,727.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 116,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,524,477.54. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 270,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,458,644 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 36,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 5,641 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 57,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 7,477 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $592,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 304,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,148,000 after acquiring an additional 88,420 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.6%

VIRT opened at $47.41 on Friday. Virtu Financial has a fifty-two week low of $31.55 and a fifty-two week high of $47.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 18.71%.

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.