Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Stock Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.27 and traded as high as $58.49. Virtu Financial shares last traded at $57.8760, with a volume of 1,165,641 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VIRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Virtu Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Virtu Financial from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore upgraded Virtu Financial to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.25.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 0.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $57.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.25. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 49.68% and a net margin of 14.20%. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 147.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is currently 14.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Virtu Financial news, Director Joseph J. Grano, Jr. sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $511,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,060,625.16. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Nixon sold 9,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total transaction of $546,822.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,902 shares of the company’s stock, 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 owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Virtu Financial during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Virtu Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

Virtu Financial Company Profile

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.