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

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.36.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VIRT. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,070,006.64. This trade represents a 15.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. FMR LLC increased its position in Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,688 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,696,000 after purchasing an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,993,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,031,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,809,000 after buying an additional 52,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 180.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,846,000 after buying an additional 609,821 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Virtu Financial stock opened at $37.76 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57. Virtu Financial has a 52 week low of $20.15 and a 52 week high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its 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 return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. On average, research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

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.