MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) PT Raised to $268.00

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its target price raised by Barclays from $237.00 to $268.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MKTX has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $249.80.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $276.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 40.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.08. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $192.42 and a 1 year high of $297.97. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $249.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.91.

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

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 174.2% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in MarketAxess by 0.8% in 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 buying an additional 34,197 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 181,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,196,000 after buying an additional 30,733 shares during the period. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth approximately $752,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently 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.