Piper Sandler Boosts Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target to $40.00

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its target price boosted by Piper Sandler from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.21.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $36.99 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.40. Virtu Financial has a 1-year low of $16.02 and a 1-year high of $38.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.45.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.03. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The firm had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Virtu Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Virtu Financial will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 19,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in Virtu Financial by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Virtu Financial by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.