Piper Sandler Reiterates Overweight Rating for Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT)

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Piper Sandler in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $48.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $44.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.54% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on VIRT. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.13.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT opened at $44.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Virtu Financial has a 12 month low of $22.73 and a 12 month high of $45.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.10.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The business had revenue of $497.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the sale, the director owned 33,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,582.86. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 408,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,770,000.19. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 243.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1,624.1% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 410.6% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.