Analysts Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Target Price at $238.60

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $238.60.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 28,547.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 13,132 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $674,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth $525,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $235.82 on Friday. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $297.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $217.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.77. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.03.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

MarketAxess declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.