Brokerages Set Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Target Price at $32.21

Shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.44.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VIRT. Morgan Stanley downgraded Virtu Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.74. 220,810 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 999,814. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.07. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $21.38 and a 52-week high of $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.71.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. On average, equities analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,899,669.23. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. Company insiders own 46.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $227,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,401,688 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,993,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,846,000 after buying an additional 609,821 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Virtu Financial by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,696,000 after buying an additional 471,526 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth $12,196,000. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.