MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $115.75 and last traded at $115.7720, with a volume of 296600 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $120.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MKTX. UBS Group decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays cut their target price on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $190.88.

MarketAxess Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $153.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.44.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $233.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.91 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 35.53%.MarketAxess’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 151.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 8.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at approximately $406,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

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.