Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Free Report)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $45.16 and last traded at $45.16, with a volume of 120719 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VIRT. Bank of America downgraded Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

View Our Latest Report on Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.70.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.31. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The business had revenue of $497.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Virtu Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.75%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, Director John Nixon sold 6,965 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $298,241.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,582.86. This represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas A. Cifu sold 178,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $6,877,802.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 408,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,770,000.19. The trade was a 30.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 362,846 shares of company stock worth $14,079,615. 47.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,401,688 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $39,993,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 83.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,473,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,157,000 after purchasing an additional 670,774 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,846,000 after acquiring an additional 609,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at $18,956,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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