Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Stock Price Down 3% - What's Next?

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.

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $37.33 and last traded at $37.44. 115,198 shares were traded 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 analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.75.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.49. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio is 21.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total value of $3,845,722.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 47.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 83.6% in the 1st 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 period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $18,956,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 50.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 445,586 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 69.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 435,958 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 170.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 555,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,890,000 after purchasing an additional 350,401 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.