Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Rating) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven rating agencies that currently cover the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equity research analyst rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two gave the company a hold recommendation and two gave the company a buy recommendation. The 12-month average price target among brokerages that have reported on the stock over the past year is $36.50.

VIRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised its price target on Virtu Financial from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a Thursday, April 14 research note. Citigroup raised its price target on Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $37.50 in a Wednesday, April 13 research report. Goldman Sachs Group cut its price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised its price target on Virtu Financial from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a Friday, April 1 report. Finally, StockNews.com began covering Virtu Financial in a report on Thursday, March 31. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 50,000 shares of Virtu Financial in a trade on Wednesday, May 4. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.25, for a total value of $1,462,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 27,488 shares of the company, valued at $804,024. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available on the SEC’s website. Additionally, Executive Vice President Stephen Cavoli sold 30,000 shares of Virtu Financial in a trade on Thursday, May 5. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.90, for a total value of $867,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 73,277 shares of the company, valued at approximately $2,117,705.30. The disclosure of this sale can be found here. During the last quarter, insiders sold 100,000 shares of the company worth $2,905,500. 42.10% of the shares are currently held by insiders of the company.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new equity stake in Virtu Financial in Q4 for $27,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the financial services provider worth $30,000 after buying 496 additional shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during Q1 worth $49,000. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during Q4 worth $62,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during Q1 worth $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.95% of the company’s shares.

Shares of VIRT were down $0.18 midday Wednesday, hitting $23.57. 69,181 shares were traded, against an average volume of 1,404,916. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $22.50 and a 52-week high of $38.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.64 and its two-hundred-day moving average is $30.66. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96 and a beta of -0.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt ratio of 1.06.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly results on Thursday, April 28. The financial services provider reported EPS of $1.27 for the quarter, beating consensus analyst estimates of $1.26 by $0.01. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company posted revenue of $522.31 million in the quarter, compared to $483.93 million expected by analysts. During the same period last year, the company posted earnings per share of $2.04. The company’s revenue fell 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect Virtu Financial to post EPS of 3.39 for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 15. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 1 received a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 31. This represents a dividend of $0.96 on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is 32.43%.

About Virtu Financial (Get an evaluation)

Virtu Financial, Inc, a financial services company, provides data, analytics and connectivity products to customers worldwide. The Company operates in two segments, Market Making and Execution Services. Its product suite includes execution, liquidity provision, analytics, and broker-independent and multi-dealer platform offerings in workflow technology.

Featured Articles

This instant news alert was powered by MarketBeat’s storytelling science technology and financial data to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reports. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send questions or comments about this story to [email protected]

Should you invest $1,000 in Virtu Financial right now?

Before you consider Virtu Financial, you’ll want to hear this.

MarketBeat tracks daily the highest rated and most successful research analysts on Wall Street and the stocks they recommend to their clients. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the market goes viral… and Virtu Financial was not on the list.

Although Virtu Financial currently has a “Hold” rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

See the 5 actions here