Morgan Stanley Boosts Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target to $25.00

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $23.00 to $25.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ VIRT opened at $32.98 on Thursday. Virtu Financial has a 1 year low of $16.02 and a 1 year high of $33.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.23. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 22.74%. The company had revenue of $385.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $147,420.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,122 shares in the company, valued at $658,530.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 46.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. 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.