Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target Raised to $35.00

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its target price increased by Piper Sandler from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on VIRT. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com raised Virtu Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $28.79.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $32.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.38. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $30.56 and its 200 day moving average is $25.57. Virtu Financial has a 1 year low of $16.02 and a 1 year high of $32.88.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.23. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 22.74%. The company had revenue of $385.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,122 shares in the company, valued at $658,530.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIRT. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 3.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,643,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,801,000 after purchasing an additional 124,563 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,295,000 after purchasing an additional 342,327 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Virtu Financial by 1.0% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 799,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,408,000 after acquiring an additional 7,721 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 745,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,296,000 after buying an additional 9,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 681,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,298,000 after acquiring an additional 28,199 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.