Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) PT Raised to $25.00 at Piper Sandler

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $21.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 21.24% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on VIRT. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.75.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $20.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.46. Virtu Financial has a 52 week low of $16.02 and a 52 week high of $21.58. The firm has a market cap 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.75 and its 200-day moving average is $18.61.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.13). Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 6.22%. The company had revenue of $535.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 8.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 186,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,935,000 after buying an additional 13,965 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 762,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,393,000 after acquiring an additional 55,491 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $220,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.7% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 13,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.