Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Reaches New 52-Week High at $22.80

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $22.80 and last traded at $22.30, with a volume of 433800 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VIRT. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup upped their target price 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.75.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 5.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.80.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.13). Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 6.22%. The company had revenue of $535.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.96 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu bought 50,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.21 per share, with a total value of $810,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 584,132 shares in the company, valued at $9,468,779.72. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 44.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 14.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 251,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,167,000 after purchasing an additional 31,636 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter worth $616,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 745,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,296,000 after buying an additional 9,826 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 19,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Virtu Financial during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. 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.