Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $26.00 to $29.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Approximately 4,416,353 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 239% from the previous session’s volume of 1,301,279 shares.The stock last traded at $31.00 and had previously closed at $30.46.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. UBS Group upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.79.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In related news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $658,530.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter worth $12,575,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Virtu Financial during the second quarter worth about $9,751,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Virtu Financial by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,215,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,295,000 after buying an additional 342,327 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,050,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,349,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $385.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.92 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 22.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.13%.

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.