Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Stock Price

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $31.00 to $33.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on VIRT. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $40.20 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.46. Virtu Financial has a one year low of $16.02 and a one year high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 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 research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued 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 yield of 2.39%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VIRT. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 38.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,974,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $151,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,419 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,815,000. Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,918,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,196,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 400.0% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 328,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,008,000 after buying an additional 262,835 shares during the period. 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.