Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Hits New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $38.45 and last traded at $37.53, with a volume of 80600 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.71.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Virtu Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.50.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.52. The firm has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.38.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $379.18 million. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 23.22%. Virtu Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 3.1% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 40,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Virtu Financial by 5.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 48,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 73,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after buying an additional 7,494 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 244.7% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 8,803 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Virtu Financial by 55.3% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.