Bank of America Increases Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target to $25.00

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its target price raised by Bank of America from $22.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.24.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of VIRT traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.15. The company had a trading volume of 615,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,232. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.40. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $16.02 and a 52-week high of $22.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.82.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $535.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.96 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 17.14% and a net margin of 6.04%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 67.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.21 per share, with a total value of $810,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 584,132 shares in the company, valued at $9,468,779.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 44.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 131.2% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 84,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 48,127 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. raised its stake in Virtu Financial by 913.6% during the fourth quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 306,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,205,000 after purchasing an additional 276,071 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the third quarter valued at $1,149,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 27.7% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 280,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,834,000 after acquiring an additional 60,776 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $1,699,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.