Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) Price Target Raised to $33.00 at Morgan Stanley

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $31.00 to $33.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential downside of 19.06% from the company’s previous close.

VIRT has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Virtu Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.36.

Virtu Financial Stock Performance

Virtu Financial stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.77. 47,792 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 838,068. Virtu Financial has a 12-month low of $16.02 and a 12-month high of $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.42.

Virtu Financial (NASDAQ:VIRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.32. Virtu Financial had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 27.39%. Equities research analysts predict that Virtu Financial will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virtu Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Virtu Financial by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in Virtu Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.78% of the company’s stock.

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.