Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Stock Price Down 3% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Virtu Financial's stock price fell by 3% to $37.44, which is part of a larger trend with trading volume declining to 115,198 shares, an 88% drop from its average session volume.
• Multiple research firms have revised their ratings and price targets for Virtu Financial, with Bank of America downgrading it to "neutral" and Piper Sandler increasing the target to $48.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, resulting in a 2.6% dividend yield, payable on September 15th to shareholders recorded by September 1st.

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) fell 3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $37.33 and last traded at $37.44. 115,198 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 956,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VIRT. Bank of America cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.75.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $42.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is 21.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $3,845,722.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 46.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,157,000 after purchasing an additional 670,774 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $18,956,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,320,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,764,000 after buying an additional 445,586 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 69.5% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,063,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,522,000 after buying an additional 435,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 170.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 555,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,890,000 after buying an additional 350,401 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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