Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.6667.

A number of research firms have weighed in on VIRT. Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 1.7%

Virtu Financial stock opened at $61.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Virtu Financial has a one year low of $31.55 and a one year high of $64.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.57 and its 200 day moving average is $43.39.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.58. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The company had revenue of $786.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $613.12 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. Virtu Financial’s revenue was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $1,501,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at $2,126,198.38. This trade represents a 41.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 46.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Militia Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $563,000. DV Trading LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Wellington Grp LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 91.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 12,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 5,854 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 115.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 672,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,572,000 after purchasing an additional 360,288 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,498,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.