Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.6667.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 2.4%

VIRT opened at $48.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.06, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.62. Virtu Financial has a 52 week low of $31.55 and a 52 week high of $56.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.90.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.58. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The business had revenue of $786.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 15.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 42,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,126,198.38. The trade was a 41.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 46.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,999,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,987,000 after purchasing an additional 142,890 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,149,000 after purchasing an additional 926,376 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 41.9% during the 1st 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,920,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,458,000 after buying an additional 19,888 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,514,000 after buying an additional 14,113 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.