Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Virtu Financial, with three buy ratings, one strong buy, two holds and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $58.80.
• Virtu reported quarterly EPS of $1.82 on $984.69 million in revenue, with a 13.5% net margin and 49.06% return on equity.
• Two directors recently sold shares, while institutional investors made additional purchases. Virtu also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, equivalent to a 1.8% annualized yield.

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.80.

Several brokerages have weighed in on VIRT. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $39.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Virtu Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Nixon sold 9,094 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total transaction of $546,822.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,137.26. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph J. Grano, Jr. sold 8,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total transaction of $511,896.00. Following the sale, the director owned 33,814 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,060,625.16. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 46.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIRT. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 10.7% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $217,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,792,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $285,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 68.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 14,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Virtu Financial stock opened at $53.46 on Friday. Virtu Financial has a 52 week low of $31.55 and a 52 week high of $68.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.91 and a 200-day moving average of $54.76.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $984.69 million during the quarter. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 13.50% and a return on equity of 49.06%. Virtu Financial has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.820-1.820 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 6.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.95%.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a global financial services company that provides liquidity and execution services across the financial markets. Through its market-making operations, the company quotes buy and sell prices and facilitates trading in a range of securities, including equities, exchange-traded funds, options, futures, foreign exchange and fixed-income products.

Virtu also provides technology-enabled execution and workflow solutions to institutions, brokers, and other market participants.

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