Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target Raised to $24.50

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $22.50 to $24.50 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.26% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. 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, April 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.24.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $22.02 on Thursday. 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 $22.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.40.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.13). Virtu Financial had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 17.14%. The business had revenue of $535.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.21 per share, with a total value of $810,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 584,132 shares in the company, valued at $9,468,779.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 44.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 11.9% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 207,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,263,000 after buying an additional 22,048 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the first quarter valued at $2,479,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 14.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 251,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,167,000 after buying an additional 31,636 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the first quarter valued at $616,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 745,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,296,000 after buying an additional 9,826 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.