JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Stock Price

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $84.00 to $88.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 62.80% from the stock’s previous close.

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

Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $54.05 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.43. Virtu Financial has a 1 year low of $31.55 and a 1 year high of $68.76. The company has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In related news, Director Joseph J. Grano, Jr. sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $511,896.00. Following the sale, the director owned 33,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,060,625.16. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 9,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total transaction of $546,822.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,792,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the second quarter valued at about $1,001,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased 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 buying an additional 569,057 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the second quarter worth about $1,404,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 39.8% during the second 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 during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by 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.