Morgan Stanley Downgrades Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) to Underweight

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $26.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on VIRT. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.21.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT stock opened at $32.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.60. Virtu Financial has a 12 month low of $20.15 and a 12 month high of $41.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total transaction of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 157,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,899,669.23. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This trade represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964 in the last ninety days. 46.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,401,688 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $39,993,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,846,000 after acquiring an additional 609,821 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,696,000 after acquiring an additional 471,526 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,196,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.