Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $25.00. The stock had previously closed at $20.15, but opened at $20.65. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Virtu Financial shares last traded at $20.54, with a volume of 66,532 shares trading hands.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.75.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu bought 50,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.21 per share, with a total value of $810,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 584,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,468,779.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 44.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Harbour Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 123.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 236.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.40.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.13). Virtu Financial had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $535.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.96 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

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.