Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $44.75 and last traded at $44.67, with a volume of 151011 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VIRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.25.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average is $41.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,582.86. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $6,877,802.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,770,000.19. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,568,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $364,753,000 after purchasing an additional 165,396 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $227,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401,688 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Virtu Financial by 83.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,157,000 after acquiring an additional 670,774 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,696,000 after acquiring an additional 471,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 50.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,320,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,764,000 after acquiring an additional 445,586 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.