Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) PT Raised to $25.00 at Morgan Stanley

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $23.00 to $25.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on VIRT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT stock opened at $32.84 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.38. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $16.02 and a 52-week high of $33.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $385.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.92 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $147,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,530.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,751,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,295,000 after acquiring an additional 342,327 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,050,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the first quarter valued at $4,349,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new stake in Virtu Financial in the second quarter worth $4,371,000. 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.