Analysts Set Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Target Price at $41.43

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.4286.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $33.05 on Friday. Virtu Financial has a 12-month low of $29.82 and a 12-month high of $45.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 10.43%.The firm had revenue of $274.00 million for the quarter. Analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is presently 21.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the firm’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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 47.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 19.3% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 36,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 5,853 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 100.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 24,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 12,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $409,000. Hedge funds and other 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.