MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $238.60.

MKTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,895.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,034,895.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 28,547.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 13,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,859,000 after purchasing an additional 13,132 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth $674,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $525,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 160.2% during the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 29,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,589,000 after acquiring an additional 18,058 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $235.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.58, a PEG ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $216.46 and a 200-day moving average of $213.72.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.82% and a net margin of 33.83%. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 7 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.47%.

MarketAxess declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.