Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Piper Sandler Analyst Says

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $57.00 to $61.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price target suggests a potential upside of 46.69% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Virtu Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 5.1%

VIRT opened at $41.58 on Friday. Virtu Financial has a fifty-two week low of $31.55 and a fifty-two week high of $45.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.11, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.00 and its 200 day moving average is $36.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $969.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $513.51 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 48.35% and a net margin of 12.90%.Virtu Financial’s revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Joseph Molluso sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.88, for a total value of $7,776,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 326,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,697,624.80. The trade was a 37.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 28,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.94, for a total transaction of $1,104,727.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 116,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,524,477.54. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 270,000 shares of company stock worth $10,458,644 over the last 90 days. 47.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,999,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,987,000 after acquiring an additional 142,890 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 64.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,370,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,149,000 after acquiring an additional 926,376 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,900,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,338,000 after purchasing an additional 115,612 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,514,000 after purchasing an additional 14,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,367,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,549,000 after purchasing an additional 474,177 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.