Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

VIRT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $37.59 on Friday. Virtu Financial has a twelve month low of $31.55 and a twelve month high of $45.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $969.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $513.51 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,900,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,338,000 after purchasing an additional 115,612 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 158,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,283,000 after buying an additional 29,424 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 66,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,213,000 after buying an additional 2,590 shares during the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: VIRT) is a leading global electronic trading firm specializing in market making, liquidity provision and trade execution services across a broad range of asset classes. Leveraging advanced quantitative models and proprietary trading technology, Virtu provides continuous bid and ask quotes in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and digital assets. The firm’s infrastructure is designed to operate at high speeds and low latencies, enabling tight spreads and efficient price discovery for its clients.

In addition to its market-making activities, Virtu offers agency execution services, algorithmic trading strategies and transaction cost analysis tools.