Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) Announces $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th.

Virtu Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 24.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Virtu Financial to earn $3.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.7%.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $35.10 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.11 and its 200 day moving average is $34.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.46. Virtu Financial has a twelve month low of $17.01 and a twelve month high of $41.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Research analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on VIRT shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Virtu Financial

In other news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $2,688,104.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $1,253,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,070,006.64. The trade was a 15.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 140,967 shares of company stock worth $5,213,964. Insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

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.