Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.7143.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VIRT. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Virtu Financial from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 64.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,149,000 after acquiring an additional 926,376 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $19,102,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter worth $18,956,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 53.1% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,549,000 after purchasing an additional 474,177 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Virtu Financial by 50.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $35.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $34.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.18. 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 1-year low of $31.89 and a 1-year high of $45.77.

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

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.78%.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.