Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 28th

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th.

Virtu Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 24.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Virtu Financial to earn $3.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.7%.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $35.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. Virtu Financial has a fifty-two week low of $17.01 and a fifty-two week high of $41.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.36.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on VIRT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.36.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. This represents a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at $3,343,193.16. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.