Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Sets New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $22.80 and last traded at $22.30, with a volume of 433800 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.19.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 1st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Virtu Financial’s payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VIRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Virtu Financial from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $22.50 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Virtu Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four 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 stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.33.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $535.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.96 million. Virtu Financial had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 6.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Virtu Financial, Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Virtu Financial

In other news, CEO Douglas A. Cifu purchased 50,000 shares of Virtu Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.21 per share, with a total value of $810,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 584,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,468,779.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 44.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial during the first quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 79.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 112.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Virtu Financial by 1,867.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 3,885 shares during the period. 45.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.