Analysts Set Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) PT at $39.75

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.75.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VIRT shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

VIRT opened at $35.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. Virtu Financial has a 1-year low of $29.82 and a 1-year high of $45.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $3,845,722.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VIRT. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 83.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,157,000 after acquiring an additional 670,774 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at $18,956,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 50.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,320,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,764,000 after purchasing an additional 445,586 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 69.5% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,063,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,522,000 after purchasing an additional 435,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 170.7% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 555,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,890,000 after purchasing an additional 350,401 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.