MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $252.80.

Several brokerages recently commented on MKTX. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $229.00 to $210.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday.

MarketAxess Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of MKTX opened at $213.00 on Monday. MarketAxess has a twelve month low of $200.01 and a twelve month high of $344.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.98.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.11. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.29% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The business had revenue of $197.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.70 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is presently 43.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total transaction of $442,520.00. Following the sale, the executive now owns 70,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,508,555.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 21.4% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in MarketAxess by 95.3% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,102 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in MarketAxess by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 5,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,731,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in MarketAxess by 15.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the first quarter worth about $317,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates an electronic trading platform for institutional investor and broker-dealer companies worldwide. The company offers trading technology that provides liquidity access in U.S. high-grade bonds, U.S. high-yield bonds, emerging market debt, eurobonds, municipal bonds, U.S.