Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $37.49, but opened at $39.92. Virtu Financial shares last traded at $39.68, with a volume of 478,770 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VIRT. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81. The firm had revenue of $467.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $420.14 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 48.35% and a net margin of 12.90%.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.