MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $188.67 and last traded at $188.62, with a volume of 45209 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $191.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.78.

MarketAxess Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $216.37 and its 200-day moving average is $244.73. The firm has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 41.82%.

Insider Activity

In other MarketAxess news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 15,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,953,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.0% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.