Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target Raised to $25.00

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its target price increased by Bank of America from $22.00 to $25.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on VIRT. StockNews.com raised shares of Virtu Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.24.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Virtu Financial stock opened at $22.02 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Virtu Financial has a twelve month low of $16.02 and a twelve month high of $22.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.40.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $535.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.96 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 17.14%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu bought 50,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.21 per share, with a total value of $810,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 584,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,468,779.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 44.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 131.2% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 84,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 48,127 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 913.6% during the fourth quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 306,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,205,000 after acquiring an additional 276,071 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $1,149,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 27.7% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 280,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 60,776 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $1,699,000. 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.