Zacks Research Increases Earnings Estimates for MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research boosted their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of MarketAxess in a research note issued on Tuesday, November 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $7.33 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $7.01. The consensus estimate for MarketAxess’ current full-year earnings is $7.33 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for MarketAxess’ Q4 2024 earnings at $1.79 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.09 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.01 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.01 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.14 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.22 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.20 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.97 EPS.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The company had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $267.50.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $260.97 on Friday. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a PEG ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $237.04.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 2,889.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 339,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,032,000 after acquiring an additional 327,913 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,959,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $501,907,000 after purchasing an additional 291,134 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 53.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 820,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,447,000 after purchasing an additional 285,665 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 120.6% during the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 393,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,823,000 after purchasing an additional 214,928 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management 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.