The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target to $21.70

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price objective lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $19.20 to $21.70 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

VIRT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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 Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.89. The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.40. Virtu Financial has a 12-month low of $16.02 and a 12-month high of $22.80.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.96 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 17.14%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 112.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 1,867.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 3,885 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.