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

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.79.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America raised their price target on Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,530.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 46.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VIRT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth $12,575,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,751,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,295,000 after purchasing an additional 342,327 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $5,050,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at about $4,349,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT opened at $30.46 on Tuesday. Virtu Financial has a 12 month low of $16.02 and a 12 month high of $32.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.98. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $385.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.92 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 22.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

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.