Brokerages Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Target Price at $204.82

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $204.8182.

MKTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler set a $180.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research raised MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 5,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.0% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in MarketAxess by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claret Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 6.6% in the second quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 1,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $178.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $170.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.93. The stock has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.97. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $156.17 and a 1 year high of $232.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 26.16%.The business had revenue of $208.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 51.70%.

MarketAxess Company Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.