Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target Raised to $33.00 at Morgan Stanley

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $31.00 to $33.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

VIRT has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ VIRT traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $38.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,784,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 895,843. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.60. Virtu Financial has a 52 week low of $16.41 and a 52 week high of $41.38. The stock has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 13.0% in the fourth 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 period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 1.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by 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.