Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research raised Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Virtu Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.67.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT opened at $50.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.97. 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 $7.78 billion, a PE ratio of 8.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.62.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.58. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The business had revenue of $786.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. Virtu Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $1,501,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 42,473 shares in the company, valued at $2,126,198.38. This represents a 41.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 46.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 3,460.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 258.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 103.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 480.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.