Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Virtu Financial has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from eight brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of about $48.67.
• The company recently posted strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $2.24 versus the $1.66 estimate and revenue of $786.53 million, up 30.7% year over year.
• Virtu also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, while insider activity included COO Brett Fairclough selling 30,000 shares in early May.

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.6667.

VIRT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VIRT opened at $52.46 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $47.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.42. Virtu Financial has a 52 week low of $31.55 and a 52 week high of $56.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.58. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 14.17% and a return on equity of 51.63%. The company had revenue of $786.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. Virtu Financial's revenue was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.89%.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $1,501,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at $2,126,198.38. This trade represents a 41.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 46.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,939 shares of the company's stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 8,277 shares of the company's stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,237 shares of the company's stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 51.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 972 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company's stock.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.