JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Stock Price

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) had its price target lifted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $84.00 to $88.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 62.80% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Virtu Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Virtu Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore upgraded Virtu Financial to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.25.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

Shares of VIRT stock opened at $54.05 on Friday. Virtu Financial has a 12-month low of $31.55 and a 12-month high of $68.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $57.63 and a 200-day moving average of $52.43.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.25. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 49.68% and a net margin of 14.20%. The firm had revenue of $956.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $647.02 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 147.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Virtu Financial will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other Virtu Financial news, Director Joseph Grano, Jr. sold 8,400 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $511,896.00. Following the sale, the director owned 33,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,060,625.16. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Nixon sold 9,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total value of $546,822.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,137.26. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 46.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Grp LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 59.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 26,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 9,708 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Virtu Financial by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 35,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,283 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 41.0% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 23,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 6,809 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter worth about $552,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Virtu Financial by 52.8% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 134,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,409,000 after purchasing an additional 46,434 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

About Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial, Inc is a financial technology firm and electronic market maker that provides liquidity across a range of global financial markets. The company uses technology and quantitative analysis to facilitate trading in asset classes including equities, exchange-traded funds, options, futures, currencies, fixed income and commodities.

In addition to market making, Virtu offers execution services and trading technology for institutional investors, broker-dealers and other market participants.