Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Stock Price

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $56.00 to $48.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 21.15% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.21.

Virtu Financial Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VIRT traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.62. The stock had a trading volume of 279,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,164,361. The firm has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.57. Virtu Financial has a fifty-two week low of $20.15 and a fifty-two week high of $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.48.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 27.39% and a net margin of 9.61%. Research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen Cavoli sold 34,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $1,271,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 157,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,899,669.23. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brett Fairclough sold 72,967 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total value of $2,688,104.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 90,749 shares in the company, valued at $3,343,193.16. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,967 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,964. 46.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VIRT. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,375,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401,688 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $39,993,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 948,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,846,000 after buying an additional 609,821 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Virtu Financial by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,696,000 after buying an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Virtu Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,918,000. Institutional investors own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.