Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRTGet Free Report)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $59.57, but opened at $63.06. Virtu Financial shares last traded at $61.6350, with a volume of 58,944 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VIRT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.67.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial Trading Up 4.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average is $53.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.47.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRTGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $786.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.12 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 51.63% and a net margin of 14.17%.The firm’s revenue was up 30.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.89%.

Insider Activity at Virtu Financial

In related news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $1,501,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 42,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,126,198.38. The trade was a 41.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 46.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Virtu Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth $1,048,000. Militia Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $563,000. DV Trading LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Wellington Grp LLC increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 91.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 12,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 5,854 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Virtu Financial by 115.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 672,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,572,000 after buying an additional 360,288 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

About Virtu Financial

(Get Free Report)

Virtu Financial, Inc is a technology-driven electronic trading firm and market maker that provides liquidity and price discovery across a wide range of financial instruments. Leveraging advanced analytics, high-performance computing and proprietary algorithms, Virtu operates in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities and derivative products. Its technology platform is designed to capture bid-ask spreads in real time, manage risk through automated controls and adapt to changing market conditions.

The company offers a suite of execution services and market-making solutions to institutional clients such as asset managers, banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.

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