MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $205.9091.

Several brokerages have weighed in on MKTX. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Argus upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, August 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research upgraded MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at $8,062,180.72. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 992.9% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $167.24 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $167.80 and a 200 day moving average of $191.60. MarketAxess has a 1-year low of $156.17 and a 1-year high of $246.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a P/E/G ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.00.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 26.16%.The firm had revenue of $208.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is presently 51.70%.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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.