Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Given New $21.50 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $21.50 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on VIRT. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Virtu Financial from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Virtu Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $22.24.

Virtu Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of VIRT traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.15. The company had a trading volume of 615,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,232. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.82. Virtu Financial has a 52 week low of $16.02 and a 52 week high of $22.80. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.40.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.13). Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 17.14% and a net margin of 6.04%. The company had revenue of $535.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.13%.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.21 per share, with a total value of $810,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 584,132 shares in the company, valued at $9,468,779.72. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 44.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 112.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Virtu Financial by 1,867.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 3,885 shares in the last quarter. 45.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.