Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target Raised to $24.50 at Citigroup

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Citigroup from $22.50 to $24.50 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Citigroup's target price points to a potential upside of 9.38% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on VIRT. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.33.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of VIRT traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,638,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,087,289. Virtu Financial has a 1-year low of $16.02 and a 1-year high of $22.80. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $19.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.82. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $535.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $272.96 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 16.94%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu acquired 50,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.21 per share, for a total transaction of $810,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 584,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,468,779.72. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 44.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial by 7.6% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 8,347,311 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $144,158,000 after acquiring an additional 588,749 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Virtu Financial by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,868,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,851,000 after acquiring an additional 92,279 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Virtu Financial by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,123,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $22,760,000 after acquiring an additional 86,313 shares during the last quarter. Gratus Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Gratus Capital LLC now owns 832,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,867,000 after buying an additional 46,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 817,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,111,000 after buying an additional 13,443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

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.

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