JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target to $21.50

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its target price raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $21.50 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

VIRT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $22.24.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

VIRT stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.15. 615,869 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,082,232. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a PE 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.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $535.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 67.13%.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 112.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 1,867.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 3,885 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.