Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Virtu Financial has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from eight analysts, with one sell, five hold, and two buy recommendations; the average 1-year price target is $39.75.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, representing an annual dividend of $0.96 and a yield of 2.7%.
• Institutional investors own 45.78% of Virtu Financial's stock, with notable increases in holdings by several hedge funds during the first quarter.

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.75.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $36.18 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Virtu Financial has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $45.77. The stock has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $42.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.49.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $3,845,722.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 83.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,157,000 after buying an additional 670,774 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at $18,956,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 50.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,320,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,764,000 after acquiring an additional 445,586 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 69.5% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,063,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,522,000 after acquiring an additional 435,958 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 170.7% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 555,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,890,000 after acquiring an additional 350,401 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.