MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $238.60.

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth about $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 174.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 84.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 9,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,888,000 after buying an additional 4,502 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,584,000 after buying an additional 5,859 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in MarketAxess by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,526,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,563,000 after acquiring an additional 34,197 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $259.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $232.34 and its 200-day moving average is $216.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. MarketAxess has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.47%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.