MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $188.67 and last traded at $188.62, with a volume of 45209 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $191.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.78.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $245.32.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Allianz SE bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

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.