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

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.25.

A number of research firms have issued reports on VIRT. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $298,241.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,582.86. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $6,877,802.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 408,867 shares in the company, valued at $15,770,000.19. This trade represents a 30.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615 in the last quarter. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Militia Capital Partners LP bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at about $244,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at about $782,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at about $1,674,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 8.4% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 176,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,721,000 after acquiring an additional 13,699 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 132.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 51,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after acquiring an additional 29,446 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.4%

VIRT stock opened at $41.85 on Friday. Virtu Financial has a 12-month low of $21.59 and a 12-month high of $44.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.85.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. The company had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

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.