Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Price Target Raised to $88.00

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Virtu Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Evercore upgraded shares of Virtu Financial to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.25.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $54.05 on Friday. Virtu Financial has a 1 year low of $31.55 and a 1 year high of $68.76. The stock has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a PE ratio of 7.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $57.63 and its 200-day moving average is $52.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.25. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 49.68% and a net margin of 14.20%. The business had revenue of $956.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $647.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 147.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 14.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph J. Grano, Jr. sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $511,896.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,814 shares in the company, valued at $2,060,625.16. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 9,094 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total value of $546,822.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,137.26. This represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 46.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 41.9% during 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 buying an additional 569,057 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Virtu Financial by 115.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 672,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,572,000 after buying an additional 360,288 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 39.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 782,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,591,000 after acquiring an additional 222,859 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 730.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 245,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,191,000 after acquiring an additional 215,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 442.6% in the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 136,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,996,000 after acquiring an additional 111,208 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a financial technology firm and electronic market maker that provides liquidity across a range of global financial markets. The company uses technology and quantitative analysis to facilitate trading in asset classes including equities, exchange-traded funds, options, futures, currencies, fixed income and commodities.

In addition to market making, Virtu offers execution services and trading technology for institutional investors, broker-dealers and other market participants.