Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 244.7% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 8,803 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $226,000. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $280,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 276,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,207,000 after acquiring an additional 24,714 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $36.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. Virtu Financial has a one year low of $16.02 and a one year high of $38.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.73.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.03. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The firm had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.24%.

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.