Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $59.57, but opened at $63.06. Virtu Financial shares last traded at $61.6350, with a volume of 58,944 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.67.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 0.0%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.86. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $786.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $613.12 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 51.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.89%.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total value of $1,501,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,126,198.38. The trade was a 41.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 46.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 64.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,149,000 after buying an additional 926,376 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 41.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,928,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,607,000 after acquiring an additional 569,057 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,920,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,458,000 after acquiring an additional 19,888 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,514,000 after acquiring an additional 14,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,549,000 after purchasing an additional 474,177 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.