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

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.36.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VIRT shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its holdings in Virtu Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,075,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Virtu Financial by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 3.3 %

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $38.87 on Monday. Virtu Financial has a one year low of $16.31 and a one year high of $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.08 and its 200-day moving average is $33.60.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 32.32%.

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.