Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) - What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Virtu Financial, with five buy, two hold, and one sell rating. The average 12-month price target is $63.60, while individual targets range from Morgan Stanley’s $56 to JPMorgan’s $84.
• Virtu reported quarterly earnings of $1.82 per share, narrowly exceeding estimates, while revenue reached $1.19 billion versus the $687.23 million consensus forecast. Analysts expect full-year earnings of approximately $6.43 per share.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, equivalent to a 1.7% yield, while insiders own 46.76% of shares and institutional investors own 45.78%. Two directors recently reduced their holdings through stock sales.

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.60.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VIRT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Virtu Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 26th.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 1.1%

Virtu Financial stock opened at $57.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.45. Virtu Financial has a one year low of $31.55 and a one year high of $68.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.64 and a 200 day moving average of $56.71.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.23 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 49.06% and a net margin of 13.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,679 shares of the company's stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 4.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,310 shares of the company's stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.1% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 34,568 shares of the company's stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.7% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,815 shares of the company's stock worth $1,419,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 24.5% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,224 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a global financial services company that provides liquidity, trading, and technology solutions to the financial markets. Through its market-making business, Virtu facilitates trading in a broad range of products, including equities, exchange-traded funds, options, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities, and certain digital assets.

The company also operates an execution services business that provides trading and workflow technology to institutional investors, asset managers, broker-dealers, and other financial institutions.

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