Morgan Stanley Raises Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target to $33.00

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $31.00 to $33.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 15.10% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on VIRT. Citigroup boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five 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, Virtu Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $38.87 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.53. Virtu Financial has a 52-week low of $16.31 and a 52-week high of $41.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Equities research analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,081,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $1,971,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,691,000 after buying an additional 20,843 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in Virtu Financial by 124.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 53,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after buying an additional 29,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 358,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,907,000 after acquiring an additional 117,062 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is 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.