Virtu Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: VIRT) stock fell -1.23% on Thursday to $17.64 against a previous-day closing price of $17.86. With 0.5 million shares changed hands, the volume of the stock remained lighter than its average volume of 1.22 million shares. During the session, the Capital Markets company that operates in wider Financial sector, reached to the highest price of $18.00 whereas the lowest price it dropped to was $17.61. The 52-week range on VIRT shows that it touched its highest point at $26.61 and its lowest point at $16.26 during that stretch. It currently has a 1-year price target of $21.50. With its current market cap of 2.91 billion, VIRT has annualized dividend of $0.96 while the current yield stands at 5.44%. Beta for the stock currently stands at 0.23.
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Price Performance and Earnings:
Stock performance is one of the indicators that investors use to determine whether they will profit from a stock. The price performance of VIRT was down-trending over the past week, with a drop of -2.92%, but this was down by -10.46% over a month. Three-month performance dropped to -7.79% while six-month performance fell -21.70%. The stock lost -32.02% in the past year, while it has lost -13.57% so far this year. A look at the trailing 12-month EPS for VIRT yields 2.04 with Next year EPS estimates of 2.71. For the next quarter, that number is 0.57. This implies an EPS growth rate of -37.50% for this year and 9.71% for next year. EPS is expected to decline by -2.71% annually over the next five years; however, over the past five years, the company experienced an annual growth rate of 10.60%.
Float and Shares Shorts:
At present, 97.80 million VIRT shares are outstanding with a float of 94.47 million shares on hand for trading. On May 14, 2023, short shares totaled 1.53 million, which was 1.61% higher than short shares on Apr 13, 2023. In addition to Mr. Douglas A. Cifu J.D. as the firm’s Co-founder, CEO & Director, Mr. Joseph A. Molluso serves as its Co-Pres & Co-COO.
Institutional Ownership:
Through their ownership of 94.71% of VIRT’s outstanding shares, institutional investors have majority control over the company. Other institutions hold 44.41% of VIRT, in contrast to 40.55% held by mutual funds. Shares owned by individuals account for 104.24%. As the largest shareholder in VIRT with 9.81% of the stake, The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds 9,597,969 shares worth 9,597,969. A second-largest stockholder of VIRT, William Blair Investment Manageme, holds 6,174,051 shares, controlling over 6.31% of the firm’s shares. GIC Pte Ltd. is the third largest shareholder in VIRT, holding 4,389,427 shares or 4.49% stake. With a 3.54% stake in VIRT, the Capitol Series Trust – Fuller & T is the largest stakeholder. A total of 3,460,910 shares are owned by the mutual fund manager. The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, which owns about 3.00% of VIRT stock, is the second-largest Mutual Fund holder. It holds 2,935,788 shares valued at 58.86 million. Vanguard Small Cap Index Fund holds 2.49% of the stake in VIRT, owning 2,435,545 shares worth 48.83 million.
An Overview of Recent Financials:
Understanding a company as a customer does not mean you will understand it as an investor. The wise investor uses quantitative research to analyze metrics such as revenue, net income, and earnings. In its fiscal quarter reported on Mar 30, 2023, VIRT reported revenue of $604.74M and operating income of $198.54M. The EBITDA in the recently reported quarter was $229.72M and diluted EPS was $0.78.
Analysts Ratings:
Reading analyst opinions is an effective way to decide where to invest, and there are several opinions available for VIRT since 0 analysts follow the stock currently. In the same way, a target price assigned to a stock can also reveal much about its potential. With VIRT analysts setting a high price target of $26.00 and a low target of $19.50, the average target price over the next 12 months is $21.56. Based on these targets, VIRT could surge 47.39% to reach the target high and rise by 10.54% to reach the target low. Reaching the average price target will result in a growth of 22.22% from current levels.
EPS: Estimates vs Actual
It is also common to use earnings estimates to evaluate a firm’s growth potential and to determine trading strategy.
Dividends & Yield:
In terms of dividends, VIRT has a current ratio of $0.96, which is $0.96 over the trailing 12-months, while a dividend of $0.96 is likely to be paid on average over the next five years. Dividend yield is another indicator that appeals to many investors, and VIRT currently yields $5.44. In the past year, VIRT’s dividend yield has been $5.44, but when looking at the stock over the past five years, its yield has been $4.15. Accordingly, VIRT has a current buyback yield of $15.96. This was $15.96 for the TTM, and it was $8.5 for the past five years.
Summary of Insider Activity:
Insiders traded VIRT stock several times over the past three months with 1 Buys and 1 Sells. In these transactions, 50,000 shares were bought while 50,000 shares were sold. The number of buy transactions has increased to 30 while that of sell transactions has risen to 19 over the past year. The total number of shares bought during that period was 497,413 while 229,671 shares were sold.
