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

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.36.

VIRT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $29.61 on Monday. Virtu Financial has a 1-year low of $16.02 and a 1-year high of $30.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.39.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $385.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.92 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 2.29 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.13%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,530.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 129.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 3,454 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 26.2% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 267,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,005,000 after acquiring an additional 55,550 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the second quarter worth about $395,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 30.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 19,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 4,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.