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

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $200.40.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MKTX. Barclays reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Argus reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 9th.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.9%

MKTX opened at $176.12 on Thursday. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $156.17 and a fifty-two week high of $232.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $175.17 and its 200 day moving average is $175.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 3.42 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.The firm had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is presently 45.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 393.0% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 98,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,948,000 after buying an additional 78,336 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 19,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,334,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 190.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 3,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 238.1% during the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at about $866,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.