Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on VIRT. Citigroup increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $22.50 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.24.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Virtu Financial stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $23.95. 2,003,589 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,114,002. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.36. Virtu Financial has a 1 year low of $16.02 and a 1 year high of $25.68.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.12. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 6.04%. The firm had revenue of $366.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.79 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 79.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 112.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 1,867.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 3,885 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc operates as a financial services company in the United States, Asia Pacific, Canada, EMEA, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Market Making and Execution Services. Its product includes offerings in execution, liquidity sourcing, analytics and broker-neutral, capital markets, and multi-dealer platforms in workflow technology.