MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MKTX. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $208.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.10.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX traded down $5.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $229.33. 356,293 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 425,973. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $192.42 and a 1 year high of $297.97. The company has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $208.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.21.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The business had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MarketAxess news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total value of $99,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its stake in MarketAxess by 30.3% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,878,000 after purchasing an additional 564,820 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $128,535,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in MarketAxess by 21.2% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,657,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,508,000 after acquiring an additional 290,347 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 40.0% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,134,000 after acquiring an additional 204,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in MarketAxess by 7,385.0% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 159,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,733,000 after acquiring an additional 157,448 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.