Virtu Financial price target lowered to $17.50 from $18.50 at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington lowered the firm’s price target on Virtu Financial to $17.50 from $18.50 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares post the Q4 report. While the higher level of trading metrics suggested a better Q4 than the Q3, management highlighted the more limited opportunity set particularly in U.S. cash equities where greater volume in sub-dollar shares hurt results, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says it is hard have conviction that Virtu is outperforming the trading opportunity set “while management highlights when earnings are declining in what feels like a reasonably good environment.”