Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Issues Earnings Results

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 22.74% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm had revenue of $388.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $379.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Virtu Financial Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VIRT traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.97. 1,104,090 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,282,295. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.38. Virtu Financial has a fifty-two week low of $16.02 and a fifty-two week high of $33.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Virtu Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Sunday, December 1st. Virtu Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Virginia Gambale sold 5,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $147,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,530.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 46.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VIRT shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Virtu Financial from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America dropped their target price on Virtu Financial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Virtu Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virtu Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

About Virtu Financial

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.