Morgan Stanley Increases Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target to $33.00

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $31.00 to $33.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on VIRT. Citigroup lifted their price target on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:VIRT opened at $40.20 on Thursday. Virtu Financial has a one year low of $16.02 and a one year high of $41.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. As a group, analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $12,196,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter worth $1,032,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 109.7% in the fourth quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 153,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,466,000 after acquiring an additional 80,132 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in Virtu Financial by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 16,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 5,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $816,000. Institutional investors 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.